THE START OF THE PROCESS
From selecting the wood, to laying out the original plans, cutting, gluing and pressing
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Some of the special wood used for the propellers. It includes sapele mahogany, American Ash and European Beech and black walnut
Wood stacked up, ready to be used
One of the many propeller templates Jeff uses - this is part of a design for a 4-bladed prop
Tiger Moth propeller template
Two cardboard templates shaped like propeller blades with markings and measurements, placed on a concrete floor. Left one is for a Sopwith Pup, the one on the right is for a Gypsy Moth
If you look close enough you can see the see-through plastic laminate template that Jeff uses to trace the shape onto the board ready for machining/cutting (Tiger Moth prop). Finding the wood grain's centre line
A Tiger Moth propeller sits in pieces waiting to be glued up. Also note the "test block" in the clamps - this is to test glue integrity
Laminations for 2 x BE2 propellers. Sapele mahogany wood
Stack of wooden chair backs with drilled holes, markings on surface, and date imprint "17/11/2005" in yellow.
Laminates for a Sopwith Scout
The start of the gluing process of a Tiger Moth propeller. See the full video of this on our YouTube channel
Gluing the Tiger Moth propeller
Placing glued boards into the press bed
Making sure each glued board sits properly in the press bed
Adding the final board on top before getting clamped in the press bed
Glued, clamped in, now in press bed under 5-10lbs of pressure for around 2 days (Tiger Moth prop)
Showing the hub section of the prop in press bed (it looks like a nice cake!)
This is what the tip of the blades look like once glued and inn press bed
This was a demonstration of the unglued boards being fanned out in place on the press bed
Another angle of the demo
Each board is held exactly in place thanks to the wooden braces
Another view of the demo of how it looks before being glued and stuck back in this press bed
The bolts and brackets which clamp down on a glued propeller all have to be clamped down to the exact same level to ensure a consistent clamp all up and down the prop
Glue test block - to test glue integrity
A four-bladed propeller with support blocking completed
A four-bladed propeller with support blocking completed
Press bed ready for the prop to be glued
Birdseye view of a 4 bladed propeller in press bed
Another view of a 4 bladed propeller in press bed
Another view of a 4 bladed propeller in press bed
A 2 bladed propeller in press bed
Design templates to hand-carve a "master". This is for the BE2a
Design templates to hand-carve a "master". This is for the BE2a
Design templates to hand-carve a "master". This is for the BE2a
Once out of the press bed, it gets sent to Jeff's friend Gerry who bores the holes in the hub (more photos of this in the next gallery)
This is a "master" for a BE2 (a 4 blader)
Rows of masters next to the copy-router
Masters
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