What is the best / wisest way to balance a prop?
Reguardless of what it is made of.

Sand / grind material off the tips?
" " " off the face / back?

I have a couple different props, wood, and I am guessing maybe fiberglass/plastic?

Any help is appreciated.

P.S. I will be getting the Top Flight power point balancer, seems like the best way to go.

after reaming the hub (if needed), place the prop on a balancer, find the heavy blade (assuming your using a 2 bladed prop). Scrape the FRONT side of the heavy blade, altering the back will affect the props pitch. Try not to remove anything from the blade tip or the trailing edge, you could but there already fairly thin.

Also removing material from the hub weakens it, so I'd advise not to remove any material from here.

If its a wood prop don't forget to "finish it" I apply a dab of thin ca and spread it with my finger (wearing a latex glove, or plastic wrap of course!!!) This will seal the bare wood from oil, water...

I'm sure someone has some better tips but this should get ya started.

One more thing.. some people like to add paint or adhesive to the light side instead of sanding or scraping the heavy side. This is fine, except over time what ever you applied for weight may wear off, so check the balance often.

Good luck.

Wouldnt that add the weight back to the prop?
or is it to small to worry about?

Here's how I do it:



Actually, you can sand a little of the heavy blade, or paint the light blade, but the bottom line is this: If it's even close, it's good enough.

:surprised

I am still rolling on the floor over that one..........

Close works for me......thanks for the help

Yeah it will add a very slight amount of weight back. Use just enough to re-cover the bare wood, the amount needed is alomst weightless. You can re check it for balance after you do this, but it should still balance.


I'm with minnFlyer on this one...as long as its somewhat close!!!

About the only thing I'd add is that before you balance a plastic prop (especially an APC) first sand off all the mould flashing from the edges including the tip. I hand start all my engines so I make the trailing edge fairly blunt for about the inner half of each blade. Then check for balance and if one is heavier first remove any manufacturers paint (tip paint, markings). If more is needed then sand evenly all over the front (curved) surface but concentrate more on the outer part of the blade. A little here goes a long way.

With most props you'll find that they'll always come to rest laying horizontally which indicates that the hole doesn't go exactly through the CG of the prop but for general flying this is good enough, it's not necessary to be an obsessive compulsive about balancing

Stopped on my way home yesterday and picked up the magnetic type balancer. This thing is slicker then sh*%. With this thing there really isn't a reason to not be better then "close" when it comes to a balanced prop.
I did notice in playing with this new toy, that if you get a prop balanced, then turn the prop over (so its facing the other direction), suddenly your once balanced prop needs more work. (Yes I did spend that much time with my props)...hahahahahah
before to long it didn't matter how I set the prop in this neat little gizmo, it went to balance position every time. I highly recomend this as "ONE TO HAVE"

How did MinnFlyer get the video from my first meeting with the Shawano, WI R/C Flying Club? I was on to them about finding 50' of water line, but the prop balancing was what I was already doing!
lmao
AL

When I used to balance a new wood prop, I'd put it on the balancer and lightly spray clear coating on the outside of the light blade. Give it a couple of minutes to dry as the clear spray is heavier when wet. If it needs a little more, I then alternate to a light coat on the inside surface of the same blade. It doesn't take too much to get a good balance, and you don't have to go through all that scraping mess.

However, I spend a lot more time on them now,... As a point of interest; I took a new 20x8 Zinger prop and removed all the factory applied clear finish with paint remover. When I installed this prop in the balancer, it was perfectly balanced!! I've since done this several times. These props appear to be well balanced before they apply all that clear urathane junk on them! I now strip every new prop and repaint them myself. I use flat black with yellow tips. One light coat of flat black covers nicely with hardly any additional weight. Paint the tip color first, then mask off the tip for the flat black. The props stay balanced and the paint scheme lets you see the spinning propeller tip very easily!

Roger

Props are pretty much electronically balanced and trying to reproduce what the factory did in hard to do without a strobe setup.
Also moisture can get into the prop via the hub and centrifugal force will push it towards the tips. Were talking micro stuff here bit it does happen.
For the price I just replace the prop.
Also nylon and carbon type have no moisture problem

I've been trying to balance my new wood prop. I haven't the slightest clue how to do it, but i stuck it through a screwdriver shaft LOL and spun it . But sometimes it stops with one side down and sometimes it stops with the other side down . Any recommendations for a ghetto wood prop balancing?

The guy at the hobby store said that it should be fine and not to worry unless it vibrates way too much. I don't want to put on my backup prop to have it vibrate and break off or something.

The Guy at the hobby shop is right.The new prop is OK but why not put the prop on the shaft of the engine and you'll get better results because the shaft size is made for that prop.

Minn: (And others)

I have to stick my nose in here.

With a trainer or sport single, holding the engine revs down, you can be satisfied with "Close" balance and get away with it. But the imbalance still adds needless vibration, and the plane will last longer if it is eliminated. At higher engine speeds the vibration frequency goes up, and its intensity also. Shakes things apart faster. Any vibration you can eliminate is worth the trouble.

When you get into twins it's even more important - with two engines the vibrations can be additive and really damage radios, break wires, hammer teeth off servo gears, all sorts of little minor irritations. But they usually lead to destruction of the plane. That's NOT a minor irritation.

Since no reasonable person expects his trainer to last more than a year or two, vibration from a reasonably close prop balance job isn't going to hurt. But when you go from $400 planes to $1200 and more each you might want to take more care with props.

I have several planes more than 20 years old, still in good condition. I don't blame it all on prop balance, of course. Maintenance inspections are very important, and we can not forget my unmatched piloting skills. Haw.

And Haw again.

Have to admit the last plane I destroyed was about 4 months old, and its destruction was entirely due to my piloting skills.

Prop be a shaker?
. Good plane breaker.

Bill.

Well Bill,
If you feel that way why not tell us how you balance your props?
If I had a $1.200.00 RC plane i'd also have a strob setup for locating where the prop needs or has to much weight.

Whirley Bird:
While I have, in the past, used up a lot of space on RCU explaining some procedures that weren't in easily accessable documentation, prop balancing has actually been covered pretty well in this thread already. Besides, I get the feeling you don't really care.
As long as you stay in the 40-60 size planes you'll probably never get to that price range.

But my Ultrastick 120 ARF, the Saito engine, six strong ball bearing servos and one standard for the throttle, eight channel receiver, 2000 mah battery, and all the other little things? $1185.

My number two twin ran a bit over $1800.

The engines alone for my big F7F, a pair of small radials, cost close to $2300. Just the engines.

And I had $1350 in an electric helicopter. The new owner of the helicopter met my price, he's happy with the deal and the helicopter.

Point? While many in the hobby stay with the smaller planes, and some go way smaller, when you go to the larger planes $1200 is the entry point. And snide comments are not appreciated.

And finally, since a model propellor doesn't need dynamic balancing, it also has absolutely no need for a strobe balancer.

If the prop's gonna' shake it,
. It wont stir it, it'll break it.

Bill.

Well in your above post you said how critical and bad vibrations were.
Now you say prop blancing has been covered pretty much in the past.
Who made snide remarks?
If a strob is not needed for props then why do they make them?

Simply put: Because some people will buy anything.

WB:
Didn't say "In the past." I said in this thread.
You, sir. It may not be deliberate, however. Please reread your posts, not just here but on other threads also. If you are not trying to be a "Wise Guy," please choose your words and phrasing more carefully. Thanks.
MinnFlyer took care of this question.

We've talked with many "Wise guy men,
. Think all should land there, in the trash bin.

Bill.

Way to Go Bill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talk about harsh words just look at yours.
See my SIG below?
Some people feel the rain, and others just get wet.
Same as reading.
You may take my words the wrong way.
Others can understand what i'm saying.
RELAX take your pills.
It's ONLY a hobby

WB:

My couplets are intended to be amusing, to reinforce a statement and make it easier to remember, otherwise educational, or any combination of the three. And sometimes just inane.

But if tyou look at Crashem's post, number 20 in this thread, you will see that I was not the only one being irritated by what your attitude seemed to be.

Sorry if my words seemed harsh, but it looks like I got your attention. The phrasing and word choice in your last few posts is much nicer. Thanks.

Broaden your vocabulary?
. Get Webster's dictionary.

Bill.