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Author Topic:   Propellers--An Episode on How It's Made

jimh posted 12-14-2012 06:33 PM ET (US)
The fascinating television series How It's Made recently featured an episode in which they showed the manufacturing of stainless steel boat propellers. The most interesting aspect of the process was the final QC check of each propeller on a laser measurement device that assessed the geometry of the blades.
Watch for this episode and set your DVR. Or, sit through a commercial or two and watch it here:
http://science.discovery.com/tv-shows/how-its-made/videos/ how-its-made-mini-episodes-boat-propellers.htm
Note that one of the propellers shown being worked bears the Yamaha name molded into the hub. Others are shown with a TURBO decal attached. It is clear that we are watching the Turbo-Prop factory in action.
Confirming this, on the Turbo-Prop website the same video (in smaller size and with a different narrator reading the voice-over) is also available.
http://www.turbo-props.com/index.php
The segment runs five minutes. It is worth watching.
Tom W Clark posted 12-14-2012 08:41 PM ET (US)
Yes, that is a great video. I've linked to it a couple times over the last several years. It is also available on YouTube.
Just to clarify, the factory shown is Precision Propeller Industries, Inc. (PPI), makers of Yamaha, Turbo and Stiletto brand propellers, as well as some for other outboard manufactures.
PPI has made most of Yamaha's propeller for years. Yamaha was so pleased with them that they bought the company in 2008.
Yamaha and Turbo brand propellers are distributed and sold through the Yamaha dealer network. Stiletto brand propellers are still distributed directly out of the factory in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Yamaha Outboards has a channel on YouTube. You can watch dozens of videos about different PPI products there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8L82bBBiyc
http://www.youtube.com/user/yamahaoutboardsusa/videos?query=propeller
jimh posted 12-14-2012 11:46 PM ET (US)
In the short video, it looked like some propellers were made with a single wax casting; the wax mold was all of the same color. Other wax molds appeared to have two colors: one for the blades and one for the hub. Those propellers seemed to have highly raked and skewed blades, and they were also four blade propellers. I wonder if the blades are made in a separate mold, and then the wax blades are joined to the wax hub for further molding. In that way the blades would all be the same shape. Also, the highly raked and skewed blades might not be conducive to being molded in one piece in a master mold that separated into two halves due to the blade geometry.
swist posted 12-15-2012 09:39 AM ET (US)
"How It's Made" is pretty interesting when something as complex as a propeller is the subject. But I find they also spend a lot of time on things like coffee mugs, leaf bags, candy bars etc.
jimh posted 12-15-2012 03:53 PM ET (US)
How did you like the episode on propeller fabrication?
Russ 13 posted 12-15-2012 11:10 PM ET (US)
Well that would explain why the Stiletto Advantage [and] Yamaha stainless [propeller] look so close in shape: they were made at the same factory.
Tom W Clark posted 12-16-2012 12:11 PM ET (US)
The Stiletto Advantage, the Turbo 1 and the Yamaha Performance Series 3-Blade do not just look alike, they are the same propeller, though the Yamaha branded one still uses a press-in rubber hub, while the Stiletto and Turbo are "square-bore" hub propellers.
jimh posted 12-16-2012 02:00 PM ET (US)
On a close-up of a display screen you can see a date, and the year showing in 2007. The photography for this episode was presumably shot in 2007, or about five years ago.
What is not shown: how the master mold for a particular propeller is made. The two-piece master mold into which the hot wax is injected must be quite a piece of science and fabrication.
Commander Coo1 posted 12-16-2012 05:25 PM ET (US)
That would be really cool to see some of the design process and machining of the mold.
I wonder what process they use to come up with the blade shapes? I once saw a genetic algorithm that was used to design airplane and windmill type blades. It was pretty neat stuff, It would do something like 10 designs and then study them and mate them together to create 10 more designs and do this until they had made about 100 different propellers and they would present the best one.
Robert V posted 12-19-2012 12:18 PM ET (US)
Thanks for posting the link to the video, I really enjoyed watching. I was surprised at the amount of "human input" required in the fabrication. I guess I thought there was more robotic involvement for the grinding and polishing of the props, nice to see workers doing this part of the process. Thanks again for the link.

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Author	Topic: Propellers--An Episode on How It's Made
jimh	posted 12-14-2012 06:33 PM ET (US) The fascinating television series How It's Made recently featured an episode in which they showed the manufacturing of stainless steel boat propellers. The most interesting aspect of the process was the final QC check of each propeller on a laser measurement device that assessed the geometry of the blades. Watch for this episode and set your DVR. Or, sit through a commercial or two and watch it here: http://science.discovery.com/tv-shows/how-its-made/videos/ how-its-made-mini-episodes-boat-propellers.htm Note that one of the propellers shown being worked bears the Yamaha name molded into the hub. Others are shown with a TURBO decal attached. It is clear that we are watching the Turbo-Prop factory in action. Confirming this, on the Turbo-Prop website the same video (in smaller size and with a different narrator reading the voice-over) is also available. http://www.turbo-props.com/index.php The segment runs five minutes. It is worth watching.
Tom W Clark	posted 12-14-2012 08:41 PM ET (US) Yes, that is a great video. I've linked to it a couple times over the last several years. It is also available on YouTube. Just to clarify, the factory shown is Precision Propeller Industries, Inc. (PPI), makers of Yamaha, Turbo and Stiletto brand propellers, as well as some for other outboard manufactures. PPI has made most of Yamaha's propeller for years. Yamaha was so pleased with them that they bought the company in 2008. Yamaha and Turbo brand propellers are distributed and sold through the Yamaha dealer network. Stiletto brand propellers are still distributed directly out of the factory in Indianapolis, Indiana. Yamaha Outboards has a channel on YouTube. You can watch dozens of videos about different PPI products there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8L82bBBiyc http://www.youtube.com/user/yamahaoutboardsusa/videos?query=propeller
jimh	posted 12-14-2012 11:46 PM ET (US) In the short video, it looked like some propellers were made with a single wax casting; the wax mold was all of the same color. Other wax molds appeared to have two colors: one for the blades and one for the hub. Those propellers seemed to have highly raked and skewed blades, and they were also four blade propellers. I wonder if the blades are made in a separate mold, and then the wax blades are joined to the wax hub for further molding. In that way the blades would all be the same shape. Also, the highly raked and skewed blades might not be conducive to being molded in one piece in a master mold that separated into two halves due to the blade geometry.
swist	posted 12-15-2012 09:39 AM ET (US) "How It's Made" is pretty interesting when something as complex as a propeller is the subject. But I find they also spend a lot of time on things like coffee mugs, leaf bags, candy bars etc.
jimh	posted 12-15-2012 03:53 PM ET (US) How did you like the episode on propeller fabrication?
Russ 13	posted 12-15-2012 11:10 PM ET (US) Well that would explain why the Stiletto Advantage [and] Yamaha stainless [propeller] look so close in shape: they were made at the same factory.
Tom W Clark	posted 12-16-2012 12:11 PM ET (US) The Stiletto Advantage, the Turbo 1 and the Yamaha Performance Series 3-Blade do not just look alike, they are the same propeller, though the Yamaha branded one still uses a press-in rubber hub, while the Stiletto and Turbo are "square-bore" hub propellers.
jimh	posted 12-16-2012 02:00 PM ET (US) On a close-up of a display screen you can see a date, and the year showing in 2007. The photography for this episode was presumably shot in 2007, or about five years ago. What is not shown: how the master mold for a particular propeller is made. The two-piece master mold into which the hot wax is injected must be quite a piece of science and fabrication.
Commander Coo1	posted 12-16-2012 05:25 PM ET (US) That would be really cool to see some of the design process and machining of the mold. I wonder what process they use to come up with the blade shapes? I once saw a genetic algorithm that was used to design airplane and windmill type blades. It was pretty neat stuff, It would do something like 10 designs and then study them and mate them together to create 10 more designs and do this until they had made about 100 different propellers and they would present the best one.
Robert V	posted 12-19-2012 12:18 PM ET (US) Thanks for posting the link to the video, I really enjoyed watching. I was surprised at the amount of "human input" required in the fabrication. I guess I thought there was more robotic involvement for the grinding and polishing of the props, nice to see workers doing this part of the process. Thanks again for the link.