Aluminum boat prop repaired.

[aametalmaster]

I have done lots of these in the last 35 years but never took any pics. I worked in a marina this summer and met some "future" clients who needed props done and they said they would call when the boats came out for the winter. Well one called and here are a few pics. It was an easy fix with not much damage on the edge (but i didn't get a pic of the bad area). I layed it on a steel plate and built it up with my Miller spool gun and .030 4043 alum wire then polished it off with a flap wheel. Ready for the next one...Bob

 

[brucer]

did you balance the prop?

 

[aametalmaster]

did you balance the prop?

Nope didn't need any. Just added and sanded like the orig outline. One fin wasn't damaged and i made a pattern...Bob

 

[Highpower]

That reminds me....
I have an old aluminum fan blade for my kitchen exhaust fan (somewhere) that cracked one of the blades and started making all kinds of noise. Of course the only thing I could find to replace it with was a steel blade, and the added weight slowed the fan speed down to a crawl. It looks like an old sewing machine motor basically. About 1/1000 hp I think.

Forgot all about until I saw this post and thought to myself, "Hey dummy -- you have a tig machine now!"