Fixing a broken propeller

digger · Post by **digger** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 3:20 pm

You may want to consider drilling a tiny hole and using a metal rod (paper clip, etc...) to connect the two pieces, and glue to finish the connection.
Many members have done such repair jobs, I'm sure you'll get sound advice....

tankduel · Post by **tankduel** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 3:54 pm

ditto on that,digger.

normandy · Post by **normandy** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 4:04 pm

I've had luck with a glue called Zap-A-Gap, aka Cyanoacrylate. This product is made by Pacer Technology and can be found at any hobby shop.
I like Diggers idea of useing a small metal rod and glue. I put two propellers back on my P-47 after it had a gravitational malfunction

just useing the glue. Oh uh... this stuff bonds anything to almost everything

Good luck.

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 4:53 pm

I had a prop blade break on my Corsair after it took a nosedive from the ceiling. If your blade broke at the base, you may be able to easily reattach it using Superglue, which can be had at any store selling school/office supplies for a couple of bucks. On my plane, the prop blade broke at the base and was fortunantly reattached with a drop of Superglue and is on as tight as before!

DocTodd · Post by **DocTodd** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 7:26 pm

Did a similar repair on my P-47 when it crashed on a strafing run. Drilled the holes using a dremel bit but on a cordless (much slower RPM) drill and tried to line the 2 parts up as close as possible-like centone said you will not get them exact. I inserted and glued a fine piece of threaded rod into the hub, then screwd the prop blade into place applying some CA glue at the bottom when it got ot the hub. Looks pretty good. You can do a little putty work and paint if you want it to look flawless. I actually considered trying one doing all 4 blades but not gluing the blades so they could be pitched differently but I haven't a spare to experiment with. Good luck.
Todd

donnieboy · Post by **donnieboy** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 7:15 pm

I don't mean to gainsay the fine suggestions by all the very knowledgeable board members here, but their fixes sound kind of tricky. I've had very good luck with Loctite Super Glue Gel. Comes in a small plastic resealable bottle with blue trim. Any drug-store, supermarket or Megalo-Mart carrries it. Being a gel, it doesn't run and bonds fast and strong. Just put a little on the two broken ends of the prop blade and press together tightly for three or four minutes-try not to breathe or jiggle the parts whike holding them! Works for me. Good luck!

donnieboy · Post by **donnieboy** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 7:19 pm

P.S. If I had a three year-old kid who did that to my 21C birds I would hang him feet-first from the ceiling and make him the pinata! Arriba Arriba! Hey, it worked with Mussolini!

airforcecop67 · Post by **airforcecop67** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 6:10 am

My son broke one prop blade off of his Corsair, the yellow striped version. Very Carefully, I managed to glue it back on with some Super Glue. Nothing fancy, just regular super glue. Luckily, it was a fairly clean break, and I had a pretty good surface area to glue. Although the thought of drilling and brass rod entered my mind, I tried the glue first, and well, a year later + later, it is still holding strong. The blade lined up perfectly with its original position, and after a day to cure, we placed it in front of a desk fan and the blades spun freely for several minutes.

Again, I got lucky, hope the same for you.

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