Blade Template Fabrication (1/2):
Templates are defined at specific locations along the blade. Each template defines the airfoil shape and twist.

Blade Drawing

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Blade Template Fabrication (2/2):
Templates are water jetted out of 1/16 th Aluminum plate. Each section is marked with a letter corresponding to the station location.

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Gluing Wood Planks (1/2):
The drawing to the left defines how to glue wood boards together to form the blank propeller to carve. For this blade I used 3/4" Pine boards. Pine is a soft wood, and easy to carve. I later use a wood hardener to preserve the outside shape and reduce nicking. Layout Drawing.

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Gluing Wood Planks (2/2):
The planks are glued together with Tight bond brand wood glue. It is critical that no air gaps remain, so use as many clamps as possible. I use scrap wood between the clamps and the planks to ensure the clamps don't poke holes in the wood.

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Marking The Blade for Carving (1/2):
Mark the planform on the glued-up wood blank. Then cut the planform out using a band saw (this step is completed to the right). Next, mark the stations along the blade span to indicate where the templates will be placed.

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Marking The Blade for Carving (2/2):
Mark the leading and trailing edge (leading edge shown to the left).

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Carving The Blade (1/5):
Begin removing material, leaving the leading and trailing edge untouched.

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Carving The Blade (2/5):
As the blade begins to take shape, the templates are used to check the contour.

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Carving The Blade (3/5):
A draw knife is used to hone in the final blade shape.

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Carving The Blade (4/5):
Sand the blade.

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Carving The Blade (5/5):
Smile for a job well done!

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Painting The Blade (1/1):
Add a coat of wood hardener (if you use a soft wood like pine), sand again, then spray paint.

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More Blades (1/1):
At this point you can repeat the process two more time and have three blades. Or, in this case, I am going to use the propeller duplicator to duplicate three more blades. Three more blanks are made, awaiting duplication.

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Hub (1/1):
The hub is machined from Aluminum. The hub functions by pinning the blades between to plates. Hub drawing (ignore the blade grips, that was from an old design).

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