PROP BALANCING
 

I have a question about prop balancing. i have a prop balancer.... you see that the prop is off.... then what do you do? sand an end till it balances properly?

RE: PROP BALANCING
 

Normally you do not sand a prop since you are likely to change the shape. What I do is coat a thin layer of clear fingernail polish out at the wing tip on the front side of the light blade and keep adding coats until you get it to balance level which is a static balance of the blades only

Then if you really want to balance it dynamically, then you place the blades at the 11 O' clock/5 O'clock positions and see what it,does What you are doing now is checking hub balance. Now you place the coats of fingernail polish on the side of the hub that is facing up

Most people will tell you not to worry about smaller props, below 14 inches mainly and if you do balance them just do the blades

I have always done both the blades and hub abd have always hgad very smooth running engines will little to no vibrations being felt while holding onto the plane

Here is a great video on how to do this.

http://www.dodvideos.com/don3.wmv

RE: PROP BALANCING
 

Thank you Bill....Info was most helpful.

RE: PROP BALANCING
 

No, no, no. Do NOT change the diameter of one blade to balance a prop. I recommend NOT sanding, either, expecially with composites. Spray clear Poly-U on the front of the light blade to balance it. It shouldn't take much. If the prop slowly swings to the heavy side, then go ahead and balance it. It it bangs down on the table to the heavy side, take it back where you bought it and exchange it.

I repeat. NEVER sand composite props. Sanding creates stress lines which may cause prop failure. The edges may be scraped to soften the often sharp molding lines.

Dr.1