General Prop Saver Diy

bigone5500

bigone5500

Well-Known Member
I'm going to make some prop savers at work and want to know if anyone else has made their own. I am going to machine mine from .375 aluminum stock and drill the pilot hole to .125". The one I have has two dimensions on each face. One is .217" and the other is .275". The one I have is also in metric units but I don't have any metric taps so I will be using #6-32 UNC threads for the set screws. I'll use some flat head phillips screws 1/4" long. I measured the o-ring the best I could and got a 3/32" cross section, 13/16" O.D., and 5/8" I.D.. Those should be easy to get but if not I can get some ordered. I have only one of those as one came off yesterday whilst flying...err...crashing... We have a small lathe at work which will make machining these very easy. They probably don't cost much but if I can make them and save a little money I will. It keeps my machining skills a little sharper too.

Please don't laugh at my blueprint...well not too much at least. LOL!

20171120_203958.jpg
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
Hey, if it works, it works. It's a pretty simple design though. ID small enough to fit the shaft perfectly with no wobble when you engage the set screw. the OD larger than the prop center hole ID, and a machined lip to fit inside said center hole in a prop. As long as you stick with the same prop style, you can machine them for just that prop. Then drill the two side holes, which can also be used as the set screw for the motor shaft, but also to hold the O-Ring that holds the prop.

Can't wait to see the finished product. As for the drawing, the only one it needs to make sense to is you if you are the one doing the turning. Man I need to get me a little lathe...
 
bigone5500

bigone5500

Well-Known Member
So here's my finished product. Made two of these in about 30 mins. The tail stock and chuck are out of line a bit so the hole is a little larger than it should be. I will try it out when I get home and see how much vibration it has.

20171121_132218.jpg
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
Looking at that, I would make it just long enough to touch the motor case. That way there is more metal there to work with. But that looks good! Let us know how it works out.
 
bigone5500

bigone5500

Well-Known Member
The motor shaft actually protrudes about 3 or 4mm past the saver. I just tried it out and it works great. No vibration.
 
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