Hi folks

From what I’ve read it seems that there is some debate as to whether it is best to finely polish the blades of a prop or leave them with a satin finish.

Do you find that it makes any noticeable difference to overall performance?

Your opinions will be much appreciated.

Cheers
Craig

its said that a shiney smooth as glass surface is faster, but a satin finish has better grip. Ive personally seen no difference.. polished is ok if you want to spend the hours and hours of work to keep em shiney.

I have two Octura 460/3 blade round ear cutback props I did for my mono. One polished and the other finished with rough Scothchbrite and I can't see any performance difference.

Done my own props for years having the final finish 600 grit wet/dry rubbed.
Polish is bling and in a LOT OF CASES worse off because the buffing wheel rounds corners of working edges and props efficiency drops.

JMO ...

Thanks for your interesting comments (no noticeable performance gains expressed so far with polished props).

I must confess I have prior to trying a new prop this weekend just polished its blades as the final process (I do like the bling). I applied the polishing compound by hand using a cotton cloth as I wanted to minimise rounding over the leading edges.

It took me a lot of time however doing it without the aid of a machine.

Cheers

Craig

Scott wrote:
I agree... I don't think it makes them any better... and if anything, in theory , like Scott says, can mess up a lot of the important edges that should be sharply squared and not rounded. In any case, I don't think we could ever notice the difference unless it was terribly messed up! One solution if you want to to do everything theoretically right, polish first and square off trailing edge etc afterward.

I have all mine polished -- the one's I have bought from Bob English (several now) all came polished - from Dave Marles all came polished - the one`s from VooDoo all came polished

I think a lot of it is how u polish and like most here said
u have tried both and no diff - and that u `could`round the edges - both statements say the same no actual diff.

Same reason I paint with Automotive paint and some paint with spray bombs (u will never get the same finish from a spray can) - to me they just don`t look finished without polished


And if there is no diff ........... then I`ll stick to polishing

What about anodized finish. We see more & more of that on rudders mostly. I've been told not to sand anodized finish. Yes /no

You can only anodize aluminum. I would not use aluminum props on powerfull gas models.

Hi folks

Thank you very much for taking time out to comment. Some good advice has been given here as well as your shared experience.

I am massively impressed with the prop collection from Canadian Hot Rod and I love the neat storage system. I’m pleased that I am not the only one who loves the shiny props!

Neil’s comment on the anodized finish was interesting. My limited understanding of an anodized finish is that it is primarily a surface treatment applied to aluminium alloys. I can understand why you aren’t supposed to sand the surface because it removes the tough surface coating. Whether or not one could apply a quality anodized finish DIY style is outside of my experience.

Cheers

Craig