Hello,
I have been working on making a folding 3 blade prop for my motor that I purchased from Jake last year. I started doing this since it didn’t look like there were any on the market that were a perfect fit for it. I struggled last summer getting one that would survive without breaking the blades off or shearing the hub but also generate enough thrust to be functional. I worked on it a little over the winter and came up with a modified design.
I was finally able to test it this past week. I was very happy with the performance. It appeared to have similar performance to the aluminum prop supplied by Jake. I printed the blades out of Prusa Polycabonate on my MK3s. The hub I actually had a company print out of sintered aluminum; however, I believe that the hub could also be PC and still work. I did coat the blades with some 5 minute epoxy to give a better surface finish; I do not know how much that contributes to the strength. I will say the PC is significantly tougher than the PETG, ABS, and PLA that I had been using in the past.
I still want to collect some data to see average power consumption. I haven’t been able to grab any yet.
Hopefully I can release some files soon.
Nice,
If you like I can print you some blades on my form 3 or binder jet.
Thanks for the offer!
We have a form 3 at work that I can use. What materials can the binder jet use? any aluminum?
I think it can but I’ve never done it, the post processing would be significant. I’ll check when I’m back!
This looks really good! Wow!
If it is too much, don’t worry about it! I had pretty good luck with Wenext printing service last time. Once I confirm the prop is performing as expected, I can just order from them again.
I printed the 2blade folding prop off Thingiverse using PLA. Added some Bondo, sanded, coated with a thin layer of fiberglass & epoxy. Been using on my SUP running at 220 watts so far so good. Yah it would prolly break if I tried it on an efoil
Can you post a link to the two bladed Thingiverse prop? I tried to find it in this thread and couldn’t locate it.
Thanks
This might be the folding prop that you were looking for.
If that doesn’t work try searching “efoil hydrofoil folding foil propeller” in thingiverse. I’m pretty surprised how much abuse this thing can take - I’ve been slamming into tons of obstacles in the river & it hasn’t broken - must be a function of the folding mechanism prevents damage idk (I’ve been using it on my paddle board not my efoil)
Hey, I took a prop @MaB posted and tried turning it into something toroidal. I don’t have a way to test it right now but if anyone has the time or the interest to try it out I’d like to know if it even works.
cheers
I see a lot of models here, but for some reason there is no real video of using a toroidal propeller in an efoil or foil drive.
I modeled one this winter that I tested a few weeks ago. It worked, but it definitely wasn’t any better than my standard propeller which is just a 5.5" diameter x 8.5" pitch aluminum prop. It also had a bit of vibration. I assume it was slightly out of balance.
Post here: Toroidal Propellors - #88 by Twstahle
As promised, here are my files for the folding propeller that I made. They are in the STEP format since I assume most of you will need to modify it slightly to use with whatever motor you are using.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lL6_WanJsaLUZ3LIX9PC0zQ5wyqIhP6a?usp=sharing
You will need three #6-32 x 1-1/4" socket head cap screws and three #6-32 nylock nuts to attach the blades. In my case, they have to be attached to the hub after installing the hub on the shaft.
Let me know if there is something wrong with the link. I think I shared it right.
Hi all,
thanks to Twstahle inspiration, I designed my version of 3 blades folding propeller.
I just keeped the shape of blades, area, pitch, profile and so on
It’s compatible with 6384 and 6374 motor.
At moment I’m printing the parts to test it on water ad maybe in the swimming pool for the correct measurament of trust
Pretty soon I will open a new thread dedicated to my foil assist construction
Step file:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G_JDTF1B9q5_iRpCMv7LCff4M66Pw4xM/view?usp=share_link
Video description from fusion 360:
great! Mind sharing the step file (or fusion 360) of this version of the hub?
BR
how much will casting cost?