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How important is it for the prop to be super smooth?

J

Joelk

New member
I had the stainless 15 3/4 x 17 prop off of my 78 rehubbed and refurbished. I requested that they not paint it thinking it would come back polished. It is not polished, at least not much. It looks like they glass beaded it, sanded some areas of it, and took out the larger scratches(it was in pretty good shape before I sent it, but needed a new rubber hub)

I could polish it, but would it be worth the effort?

How much difference in performance is there between a prop with a slightly rough surface and a fully polished surface.

Is it correct to assume that the back side of the blade is the more critical side to have polished, if I were to only polish one side?

I could also epoxy prime it, sand the primer to get a totally smooth surface and they apply polyurethane paint. This would be with high quality automotive paint. Would there be a significant benefit to this over a slightly rough bare stainless prop?
 
Joelk said:
I had the stainless 15 3/4 x 17 prop off of my 78 rehubbed and refurbished. I requested that they not paint it thinking it would come back polished. It is not polished, at least not much. It looks like they glass beaded it, sanded some areas of it, and took out the larger scratches(it was in pretty good shape before I sent it, but needed a new rubber hub)

I could polish it, but would it be worth the effort?

How much difference in performance is there between a prop with a slightly rough surface and a fully polished surface.

Is it correct to assume that the back side of the blade is the more critical side to have polished, if I were to only polish one side?

I could also epoxy prime it, sand the primer to get a totally smooth surface and they apply polyurethane paint. This would be with high quality automotive paint. Would there be a significant benefit to this over a slightly rough bare stainless prop?
Click to expand...

Ayuh,... Welcome Aboard,.... You'll be wastin' yer time if ya think there'd be any Noticeable difference in performance...
 
No way painting a stainless steel prop will stick.......... Barley sticks on an aluminium.......

If you have a pollishing wheel give it a shot.........

rough surface can cause disrupted flow and decrease performance but I am not sure the surface finish if only a slight "orange peel" texture will have any affect....... The edges will cause more issues if they are jagged.........

Smooth edges and proper cupping, smooth surface of blades........how smooth? No idea......

If you were drag racing or high speed racing then maybe it would be of a concern as every 100th of a second counts.........

But for a passanger boat no big deal.......besides no one sees it when in use it is under water....
 
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