Prop Finishing

[Jimmy Sterling]

Has anyone noticed a difference in performance between a polished and a non polished propeller

I have always believed in polishing my rudder blades but have always questioned whether or not it is neccesary to polish props

Thanks
Jimmy

[andym]

Cant say as I have seen a difference but I just finish with 800 wet & dry paper. Works forn me

[Flying Scotsman]

A great question. There have been many responses to this question. I, personally believe that Andy's response is correct, but mind you maybe Bill Oxidean/Wilmer will respond with his insight to all FE problems.

Douggie

[Spot Me 2]

A great question. There have been many responses to this question. I, personally believe that Andy's response is correct, but mind you maybe Bill Oxidean/Wilmer will respond with his insight to all FE problems.

Douggie

Man, You guys fight like your married

[Jimmy Sterling]

maybe Bill Oxidean/Wilmer will respond with his insight to all FE problems.

[Flying Scotsman]

Man, You guys fight like your married

Not a chance on being married, Dolly screwed that up, but Wilmer will show his true colours shortly.

Douggie

[Spot Me 2]

Should be soon with the way you keep poking him

[Flying Scotsman]

Should be soon with the way you keep poking him

Ask Fluid for his comments. This guy is a piece of work and from now all remarks are via pm

Douggie

[Darin Jordan]

I'm basically with Andy on this one... I finish mine with 400 wet/dry and am done with them... Same with the rudders... I would NOT polish anything that is in the water... Think of a shark's skin... it creates TINY little air-bubbles as it glides through the water... Otherwise, the water would "stick" to the surface... It is my opinion that this causes drag... Same reason we scuff hulls... No GLOSSY ride surfaces here...

[Flying Scotsman]

I'm basically with Andy on this one... I finish mine with 400 wet/dry and am done with them... Same with the rudders... I would NOT polish anything that is in the water... Think of a shark's skin... it creates TINY little air-bubbles as it glides through the water... Otherwise, the water would "stick" to the surface... It is my opinion that this causes drag... Same reason we scuff hulls... No GLOSSY ride surfaces here...

Darin, spot on. I use the same grade of wet/dry

Douggie

[lonewolf]

The important part is to get it properly shaped and balanced. And yes I mean shaped. A prop once sharpened can have two different blade shapes and still balance. Blades must be matched to each other to be truely balanced. There are a few ways to do this I pewrsonally use a wad of clay and make an imprint of the blade and carefully remove it and rotate to check to see if other blade matches.

As far as polishing, ya sure there might be a benifet of one over the other but I doubt that most guys have the pace to run identical passes under the same circumstances and without variences to actually measure the difference...
Just my .02 Dave I polish the backside and leave a satin finish on the front face of my props. Polishing looks cool and adds bling but not nessicerily and speed...?

[egneg]

There are many that want a polished prop while others want a satin finish or some combination of the two. Personally I don't think any one of the above makes that much of a difference at the rpm's that are generated with brushless motors and lipos. I will finish a prop to what ever the customer wants and if they are happy ... I am happy! A well balanced and sharpened prop does however make a great deal of difference as far as motor and bearing life goes.

[Heath M]

Hey Jimmy,
A test was done on the performance difference between polished and non polished props a few years ago and nothing conclusive came of it from what i can recall. Maybe Scotty will know where to find the link of it ??
If want to polish your prop for added affect go for it it won't dampen the performance of the boat...

Heath

[Scott T]

There was a post on the IW forum about it, I think it was by Jerry Dunlap. He found the satin finish outperformed the polished finish.

I like to finish mine with about 600 grit, I also find it easy to get a very sharp edge that way.

But Jimmy, remember when you're racing against me, it is very important that one blade is at least 50% bigger than the other

[Jimmy Sterling]

Thanks for the replys guys.

I'm guessing that its not even worth polishing my rudder blades anymore, I understand what you mean Darin however, I though that a polished metal surface would create less drag when running though the water