Can you have too many props?

That's funny, thanks for the chuckle, round of greenies

Wow Terry!!! a "prop-wall" by diameter!!! You're a "brother from another mother"!!

I agree, you can never have too many props...or cox engines for that matter.

Roddie, some might say we're just anal.  
That mixed batch in the lower right corner are old-but-still-flexible Top Flite (white) and Grish (yellow) nylon and Flo-Torque mahogany, rarely used and I'm not sure it's a good idea use 'em at all.

Marleysky wrote:

I was waiting for Roddie to come up with a design for a "whirligig " so I keep 'em hangin around.

No whirligigs yet Rene.. but give me some time to think about it..

I "did" make my own prop-balancer some time ago though..




I bought a "Kavan" balance-shaft.. and a pair of small "rare-earth" magnets to adapt the TopFlite magnetic design into my own frame. The magnets are CA-glued to a pair of 5/16-18 bolts. I "tapped" the wood frame-rails 5/16-18 to adjust the magnetic-gap for maximum sensitivity.. and allowance for any bowing in the wooden rails. The cable retains the balance-shaft when not in use.. so it doesn't get lost.

wha-tah-hey wrote:Roddie, some might say we're just anal.  
That mixed batch in the lower right corner are old-but-still-flexible Top Flite (white) and Grish (yellow) nylon and Flite Torque wood, rarely used and I'm not sure it's a good idea use 'em at all.

Yea.. Terry.. I know. Rusty needed a 10 x 3 a few years ago.. and couldn't find one anywhere. I sent him an old TF nylon one.. but there were lots of concerns on how safe it would be to use. I didn't understand the hazards involved at the time. That said; I wouldn't think twice about using any of my wood props.. especially the 1/2A ones. I have quite a few.. mostly 6 x 3's and a few 6 x 4's. I have a lot of 8 and 9 inch woodies too. Most are "Rev-Ups". Some of my old stunt-engines used these props quite effectively back in the day.

For safety, I do give these old nylons a severe bend check before any run and have had a few pop a blade as a result. Better then than at 10K+!  
On woods, I have many in regular use (see the 1st pic) and no worries, but the vintage Flo-Torques are relatively open-grained, light weight mahogany, not maple or other dense wood.
A moderate bend test caused one to split slantendicular (as opposed to flatendicular or vertendicular) across a blade. Another, before I began to check them, did throw a blade, thankfully with no ill-effects to engine, engineer, bystanders or property.

Ha do I wish I had wall space for a good propeller organizing

Just today I decided to fuss about with all my loose props...( there are a bunch on engines and planes already)

Thinking I may need two more Staples Plastic 6 drawer roll around storage units for under counter.


Just shy of 200 shown here and I have several cigar boxes of old used 1960~1970s 8" to 10"wood props I got at a swap meet for the taking at end of day

Sweeeet, Fred!!

I have props in tall plastic snack jars, boxes, drawers and an old dishwasher utensil holder. Maybe I'll make a nail-board to hang them on and sort by size. And I did crank up my Thunder Tiger .25 a few times with Roddie's white plastic 10x3 TF props. Never flew them though.

Just a note to acknowledge the great folks in this hobby

Less than 30 of all those props were bought by me...a WHOLE lot of them from the early days getting back to C/L--- and guys just plain gifting me engines, kits, used planes, and all sorts of kit.... one box from a fellow was 55 already balanced combat APC props (most what are on the sticks) ...another guy gave me 2 cards of KB-1L glow plugs...most I have since cross gifted to others

Part of what I am doing today and tomorrow is sorting out to pay it forward to a new guy here in Texas coming back to combat at 69...

No props but I've been the recipient of other modeller's big-heartedness also, Fred.
And paying forward, I just sent plans, field box and other spare goodies to a Georgia neighbor also getting back to C/L after many years.
It's part of what makes the hobby so enjoyable.

Jeeze, I thought I had a lot of props. I don't even make novice status compared with you guys. Ya all need a prop-go-round.

Bob

I have a few props but never have the one I want at any moment in time. I have a PAW 60 ready to run in and would like to use a 15/6 propeller. Don't have one!

Most (all at the moment!) of my flying is through electrickery and matching motor, propeller and battery is a bit of an art. The fast electrickery propellers are also quite brittle (as a general rule) and I break them all the time so I have quite a stock and always take spares with me to the field. The "Slow flyers" are a little more flexible.

I keep these in their original packaging and staple back the labels because (especially on the grey APC ones) I find it difficult to read the sizes. I also band most of them together by diameter.



Looks are deceiving - there are over 120 props there and I also have around 20 attached to models.



They all pack nicely into a box and because the sizes are banded together I don't have to rummage too much!



When it comes to IC engines - I have quite a stock but haven't "bought" many. I constantly buy 7x4, 8x4, 8x6, 9x4 and 9x6 propellers. I never seem to have enough and, in the UK, they are always going "out of stock".

These are my recent purchases.



I suppose that is because I have a plethora of 1.5 to 3.5 cc engines.

I receive most of my IC propellers like this.



No longer wanted! This was an inetersting box as it had over 30 propellers - 20 brand new and unused (two of them are Taipan badged propellers that I haven't seen before) - and only two discards. Sadly, no 15x6!

I keep these sorted by size



No idea how many but they pack away nicely.





I have so many engines "on the go" that I gave up keeping track of propellers.







These aren't "on display" they are "to do"!

Now I feel like a proper "prop pauper"!
But I suppose it's just as well that we don't ask the lady of the house this question.
She wouldn't understand