Boat Bling
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 20, 2014
- Messages
- 1,196
- Reaction score
- 1,503
Prop repair has always fascinated me. The ability of a skilled technician to hammer, weld and massage a mangled piece of metal back into shape in order to propel several thousand pounds of boat across the water at high speeds is an artform.
This morning I visited Props Plus in Scottsdale, AZ to conduct dealer training and picked up a repaired prop for a friend's boat. They're still in the process of setting up the repair equipment and organizing tooling which up until a few days ago was housed in their Denver location. Props Plus does just about all the work for the Phoenix area boat dealers and service shops and receives units from all over the Southwest. They were kind enough to show me around and let me take pics of the process.
(EDIT: Apologies for sideways pics)
Props Plus Scottsdale
Props awaiting their turn (see what I did there? )
Early stage of repair. Prepping by removing surface coating and exposing bare metal
Adding new material via welding
Welding rod for each material
These are blocks (should have taken a close up) which are used along with a hammer to form the ears back into the proper shape. Don't know that these are available any longer so they must be collected over the years
Once the prop is back in shape it must be thoroughly sanded to blend the metal working marks. This is a pile of sanding belts received from their Denver location awaiting sorting. You can imagine how many of these they go through.
Once shaped and sanded, the repaired prop will look something like this. It is fully functional as-is but not cosmetically appealing with the color contrast clearly showing the area that was repaired.
The final step is the tumbler or 'Vibe-A-Prop' machine. The white pieces are affixed to the hub to protect the mating surfaces and the assembly is placed into the media, along with water and a compound similar in consistency to clay. Not sure how long this process takes but for brass, aluminum and props awaiting paint, this is the last step.
Stainless props are placed into the 2nd stage of the machine filled with a finer media and if needed, are polished further to a showroom shine on a buffing wheel.
This morning I visited Props Plus in Scottsdale, AZ to conduct dealer training and picked up a repaired prop for a friend's boat. They're still in the process of setting up the repair equipment and organizing tooling which up until a few days ago was housed in their Denver location. Props Plus does just about all the work for the Phoenix area boat dealers and service shops and receives units from all over the Southwest. They were kind enough to show me around and let me take pics of the process.
(EDIT: Apologies for sideways pics)
Props Plus Scottsdale
Props awaiting their turn (see what I did there? )
Early stage of repair. Prepping by removing surface coating and exposing bare metal
Adding new material via welding
Welding rod for each material
These are blocks (should have taken a close up) which are used along with a hammer to form the ears back into the proper shape. Don't know that these are available any longer so they must be collected over the years
Once the prop is back in shape it must be thoroughly sanded to blend the metal working marks. This is a pile of sanding belts received from their Denver location awaiting sorting. You can imagine how many of these they go through.
Once shaped and sanded, the repaired prop will look something like this. It is fully functional as-is but not cosmetically appealing with the color contrast clearly showing the area that was repaired.
The final step is the tumbler or 'Vibe-A-Prop' machine. The white pieces are affixed to the hub to protect the mating surfaces and the assembly is placed into the media, along with water and a compound similar in consistency to clay. Not sure how long this process takes but for brass, aluminum and props awaiting paint, this is the last step.
Stainless props are placed into the 2nd stage of the machine filled with a finer media and if needed, are polished further to a showroom shine on a buffing wheel.