Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Troubled waters part 2


2 Props
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.
OK, so I have replaced the propeller on my model boat with a much bigger one. It looks like it should shift much more water and therefore to my simple mind the boat should go faster.

You should just be able to see that I had to fit a channel in the hull as the blades needed a bit of clearance. Filing away with a round file gave me the space and the thickness of the plastic hull meant that I had plenty of “meat” to stick some plasticard to. Once the joint hardened a bit of carefully sanding and trimming with a sharp knife made for a neat job. The paint is just to show how effective I’ve been as it’s difficult to see in the raw plasticard.

Back on the water, the boat accelerates a bit more effectively and then stops. The motor still turns but there is no propulsion. Thanks to the other model sailors making waves the boat eventually made its way to the most awkward and muddy part of the back for recovery.

The problem is with the coupling between motor and drive shaft. A bit of neopropaline tube has been used which is fine for small propellers but doesn’t look like it has enough grip on the drive shaft with this much torque.

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