plastic or carbon prop

[Rusty]

I am building a pedal boat, and I am in need of a propeller. I would like to use a plastic or carbon prop. about 10 to 14 inch dia. 2 or 3 blade, with a 1/2 or 3/4 shaft opening. does antone have any idea where I might find such a thing ? new or used ? prop will have a small load onit- human powered. Thanks Rusty

[jehardiman]

A 10-14" prop is too small to be efficient for a HPV. Most of the one's I've made and seen are larger.

Go to the IHPVA site (www.ihpva.org) and check out the water vehicle chat sites. Maybe someone has a spare/old wheel they would part with.

[SailDesign]

The 6-blade plastic fan from a 1980 Ford Escort works surprisingly well!

Steve

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by SailDesign

The 6-blade plastic fan from a 1980 Ford Escort works surprisingly well!

Steve

Thanks, I will have a look at that option, have you tried this yourself ? if so on what size craft ? I have not been able to find a picture of a 6 blade fan 1980, have found 1981-85 with 9 blades & 86-90 with 10 blades. Was escort around in 1980 ?? What is the diameter of the 6 blade fan ?
Rusty

[SailDesign]

Rusty - I should probably have stated that this was in England, where the Ford Escort hsa bneen around for far longer than in the States... Sorry.
The boat in question was in a local "holiday" human-powered boat race. Not extremely technical, but the boat was about 12', very light and skinny sort of proa design. The prop was quite efficient, but the strut needed to be aft of the prop due to blade bending. Iwould recommend a skinny layer of carbon on the aft faces of the blades to stiffen.
The diameter was about 12", and since they were using a short chain in their drive-train, they were able to increase the rpm over what the "powerplant" could provide on a 1:1 basis.
Steve