Prop balance and cutting...how?

[jasoncsc]

Hi,

I heard a lot about the goods of having prop balanced. I just get myself an Octura prop balancer, and tried balancing my 440 2 blades. It is not that difficult to get the blades balanced. Later with the 440/3, I spent almost two hours trying to balance that prop, but at the end still I am not sure whether it is balanced or not, because the "heavy side" is not too evident...is there a proper way to do it?

Also, I have heard about custom cutting props to enhance their performance. Can someone tell me how they are done, and in what ways does these "cuts" benefits performance?

Regards,

Jason

 

[wswatzell]

With a 3 blade, give it several light spins if it stops in a different spot every time, then it is balanced. That is about all I know, I have only read about it, (no actual experience

 

[nitrotoys]

OOOOOOOOO man 3 blades are a pain to balance.

it WILL take TIME and PATIENCENTS, For one, and mark your blades and spin it, it should be able to stop at all places, if it stops and the same two over and over again, your out of balence.

As far as cuts on a prop, what kinda cuts are you thinking about?

 

[Mike Hughes]

It is not that tough man. You just have one more blade to deal with. You need to take material off the blade or blades that are lower than center line of the balancer. Lets say that your 3 blade prop stops with a blade tip at the very top. You will need to take some off the leading edge of one and some off the trailing edge of the other. Taking into the fact that the further out you get away from the prop hub the less material you have to take. I just got done with a X452/3. It took about 30 mins. from raw to sharpen and balanced. I use a 1" belt sander. It makes quick work of it.

Mike