Prop touch-up

What you really should keep in mind is, you don't judge the condition of a prop from a picture.
You need to have hands on and the proper maintenance manuals for the job. not some magnified picture that you can go OMG somebody is going to die.

"And from high upon the mountain cometh the wrath, and all below shook with fear and alodine. And it was said to go forth and actually follow the directions. And it was good"
 
"And from high upon the mountain cometh the wrath, and all below shook with fear and alodine. And it was said to go forth and actually follow the directions. And it was good"
Be sarcastic, or take he truth to heart, your choice.
 
"The truth shall set you free!"
 
In case there's any life left in this thread, and assuming Tom and Jaws have cooled their jets:
I called up M&M Propeller in OKC. They quoted $1200-$1300 for an IRAN. That's sight unseen, so no way to really know.
Foster's Propeller will no longer work on my model prop, and referred me to M&M. That works out fine since M&M is two hours closer.

First, I'm going to fly over to the A&P and let him take another look in a day or two. If it meets the parameters for a field repair, and he feels confident in his ability do dress it, I'll let him. If it is field repairable and he doesn't feel confident, I guess I'll aviate to another airport and find another A&P. If that doesn't get me fixed up, I guess we'll pull it and I'll take a drive to OKC.

Now that I'm off work and have information in front of me:
Prop is McCauley 2A34C66-OP
TSOH - 555 (1992)

Been a loooooong time since overhaul. Thankfully the red liquid A/D was complied with. I see no visible leakage from the seals and have seen no red juice. I'm not too worried about corrosion, I think, just the dings. However, those dings on Tom's recent prop repair thread are about what my worst dings look like, so I have hope that I'll get out with a field repair and retain my arms and legs. OTOH, being that this prop is old enough that only one shop in the state will still work on it, it may be advisable to at least get it IRANed at the shop while I still can. My only hang up on that is the money, which I have little of. I can swing it fine, but I don't want to if I don't really need too. Know what I mean, Vern? Decisions, decisions.

This was supposed to be a paint touch-up thread, people. What the heck happened??
 
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First, I'm going to fly over to the A&P and let him take another look in a day or two. If it meets the parameters for a field repair, and he feels confident in his ability do dress it, I'll let him. If it is field repairable and he doesn't feel confident, I guess I'll aviate to another airport and find another A&P. If that doesn't get me fixed up, I guess we'll pull it and I'll take a drive to OKC.
Sounds like a plan, don't get discouraged if the A&Ps don't want to work on props, they rank third behind mags, and carbs for liability.
 
No worries. You asked a question. You got some answers. You made a plan. It's all cool!
Let us know how it all works out.

Good luck.
 
Just got home from the shop. I laid out my concerns to him and pointed out any dings that I had been worrying about. Told him I was thinking about an IRAN. The A&P looked at it, petted it, caressed it, shined the flashlight on it, smelled, and rubbed it. His recommendation: a little bit of light filing on the leading edge to knock down the high spots, put some Rustoleum on it, and go flying. His opinion is that going to the prop shop is not at all necessary, and that I should only do it if I needed to for peace of mind. I'm not going to the prop shop. I asked him about painting, and he's okay with me doing the painting after the he gets done cleaning it up a bit.

Here's the new plan: Have it filed a bit, paint it up, get a dynamic balance done, and go have fun. Left it at the shop for the weekend, and I'm going to change the nose, replace the brake linings, clean and re-pack the bearings while I'm at it, and paint the prop. On Winters' recommendation, I've contacted Kent Felkins out of KRVS (Tulsa), and hopefully I'll have a silky smooth prop by the end of next week.

Y'all had me all worried for nothing. Thanks again for the input.
 
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True, but I find it unwise to discount an opinion just because it's different. I care not for Tom's condescension at times, but he knows more about it that I, as do all the rest of you who have done ANY work on a prop. So I soak it all in, ruminate, and make a decision. I'll probably even flip-flop a time or two before deciding. Gotta respect the thing that ultimately makes the plane go, and I don't even want to ponder the price of screwing it up. Again, I appreciate the input from everybody.

I'm glad you finally did. :)
let us see the after pictures.
 
Any kind of balancing going on?
 
Just got home from the shop. I laid out my concerns to him and pointed out any dings that I had been worrying about. Told him I was thinking about an IRAN. The A&P looked at it, petted it, caressed it, shined the flashlight on it, smelled, and rubbed it. His recommendation: a little bit of light filing on the leading edge to knock down the high spots, put some Rustoleum on it, and go flying. His opinion is that going to the prop shop is not at all necessary, and that I should only do it if I needed to for peace of mind. I'm not going to the prop shop. I asked him about painting, and he's okay with me doing the painting after the he gets done cleaning it up a bit.

Here's the new plan: Have it filed a bit, paint it up, get a dynamic balance done, and go have fun. Left it at the shop for the weekend, and I'm going to change the nose, replace the brake linings, clean and re-pack the bearings while I'm at it, and paint the prop. On Winters' recommendation, I've contacted Kent Felkins out of KRVS (Tulsa), and hopefully I'll have a silky smooth prop by the end of next week.

Y'all had me all worried for nothing. Thanks again for the input.

I didn't think that prop was that bad, but I would keep after those nicks, at least annually, if not at oil changes. Each one of those is a stress riser, get rid of them and you get rid of the stress riser. Glad it was good news.
 
Drew now that you've dealt with the symptoms, you need to cure the disease and get those rocks on your taxiway glued together.

I heard that. Nearly everything on the property got resurfaced/repaved recently except the hangar apron. The runway, most of the taxiways, the ramp, even the 1/2 mile entrance road are all fairly fresh asphalt, and we're starting our airplanes on gravel. I don't get it. Been trying to get the city to fix it for some time now. Frustrating.
 
Looks airworthy to me.

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Purdy!!!

What's Felkins charging these days?

Thank ya,

Oddly enough, I didn't even ask when I talked to him. I'm going to let that paint cure for the week while I'm back on shift, then hopefully get it up to T-town and let Felkins do his thing. I will let you know what the price comes out to. We had some chitty weather over the weekend (sleet!?!), then 30 mph wind for the last couple days, so didn't gat as far as I'd hoped this off week. I flew home from the shop on Monday, which was the best flying day. Wind was 22-29 down the pipe.

What do y'all think, new McCauley stickers or none? I can tell one dang thing, the old stickers were tougher than whatever paint was on the prop.
 
Lightly dust with talcum powder, to keep your masking from pulling your new paint off.
Or use the blue painter's tape (Scotch brand). It may cost more, but it really works well. New paint shouldn't come up, in my experience, unless it hasn't cured, or the surface prep is bad.
 
It seems like much more was done other than a "prop touch-up". Looks nice.
 
@timwinters Felkins charges $200 for dynamic prop balance. I have an appointment for next Wednesday and I'll head to the Kentucky Dam Fly-in from there with my silky smooth running prop the following morning.
 
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@timwinters Felkins charges $200 for dynamic prop balance. I have an appointment for next Wednesday and I'll head to the Kentucky Dam Fly-in from there with my silky smooth running prop.
What time you planning on landing at the Dam? I'm shooting for 5:30 to 6pm on Thursday.
 
You need to fly through some rain on the way to the fly in and strip the leading edge. :) :) :)
 
btw.....McCauley recommends Sherwin Williams Polane T polyurethane enamel paint.
 
Something tells me that McCauley should have spoken up a little bit earlier. :)
 
@timwinters Felkins charges $200 for dynamic prop balance. I have an appointment for next Wednesday and I'll head to the Kentucky Dam Fly-in from there with my silky smooth running prop the following morning.

He balanced both my old 172 and my 182 and did a great job on both. It's not just the prop that's taken into account when balancing, it's the entire engine. You'll remove the cowl and he'll install a vibration sensor on the back of the engine also...at least he did so on mine.

My 172 was amazing smooth. O300s are smooth anyway (especially if you have Seth's balanced pistons in it) but after Kent got done with his magic it purred like a freakin' sewing machine!
 
He balanced both my old 172 and my 182 and did a great job on both. It's not just the prop that's taken into account when balancing, it's the entire engine. You'll remove the cowl and he'll install a vibration sensor on the back of the engine also...at least he did so on mine.

My 172 was amazing smooth. O300s are smooth anyway (especially if you have Seth's balanced pistons in it) but after Kent got done with his magic it purred like a freakin' sewing machine!

That's what I'm hoping for!
 
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