Just a note, we do not remove tooling marks. They are left in the prop. Again, removing the tooling marks will only lead to a person working the prop by hand and potentially hurting the performance of the propeller.

Hand work can not come close to the tolerance that can be cut in a CNC machine. The machine is cabable of tolerances of .0002". There is no way possible to work anything by hand that will come close to those tolerances. It stands to reason anything manufactured to a tighter tolerance will outperform something of a lesser tolerance.

That's why the trend in propellers is going toward CNC manufacturing. This trend will continue to increase and in the near future, just as lab finishing is now, will become a standard for all high performance propellers.

We realized it as did Mercury. I can have a $10 and hour employee run a machine and make propellers that are a higher tolerance and more consistant than the best propeller person anywhere. As a boat manufacturer it is nice to know they receive propellers that are consistantly the same time and time again, something that can't be done by hand, especially if different people are working the propellers.

While there will always be a need for propellers to be worked by hand and there will be applications where only a hand worked prop will work. My personal opinion is machined propellers will also fill a market. I hope so anyway, we have a lot of money invested in that theory.

Time will tell what the future holds for CNC propellers. Now that there are several manufacturers in the market the product should improve even more as manufacturers try to out do each other. It's an exciting time. The customer is the one who will benefit.

look what a cnc machine has done for cylinder heads. Every port is exactly the same !! I bought a new prop awhile back and it didnt look rite to me so I made something to spin it on and take measurements, quit crude, sent it back to them and was assured it was fine!! After paying for shipping twice not having a prop for 7 weeks !!!Then I sent it out to be scanned and one blade pitch maxed at 29 and another at almost 32!!I had to send them the scan report to get a new prop. NEVER AGAIN

Those were the exact frustrations I felt! Pitch between right and left is different, diameter is not as large as it should be, tracking out, pitch or rake so far out it is not realistic to straighten, pitch progression different between right and left, completely different blade designs between right and left, etc, etc.

When lab finishing a prop all these things are adjusted but when the prop is so far out it's unusable. You end up scrapping the prop and starting with another one.

After enough of that I thought why not make the propellers in a CNC machine. Many told me we would never be able to do it. Many have tried and failed but we felt is was the only way to bring a product to market that meet the tolerances we were trying to achieve. It's really the next logical step beyond lab finishing.

The complexities of machining a prop are HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I now understand why it's not common place. We learn something new everyday.

You know 2 years from now their will be 6 other companies using the same machine with the same program and prices will hopefully fall !! Just look at flat screens !! Once your testing is done (CNC to mercurys best) I can see your machine running 24/7 !! So whos taking the night shift ? One last thing . Your still going to have some human error with the prop ! The error is going to be the customer not giving you the rite info on the boats setup ! Their going to tell you one thing when in actuality the boat needs another. But I guess you already have that problem. Best of luck and it sure does look like a winner

If you snap half the blade off who can fix it????

Lets think positive!!

Thats just it you dont you call and get exactly what you had down to the .0002 !!

Congratulations Julie!!!
It looks Awesome. Please put me on your list for the set of props we discussed.... Your recommendations were right on, on my last set and I look forward to having a CNC'd (with the cool tooling marks) set next.
Best of luck, Keep up the Great work!
Rob Whitney 910-524-5438

Now we are getting with the program!

This is one of the incredible features of CNC Props.

Gratzi!

Rob, I will call you Monday and we can discuss everything.

Just curious that if the tooling marks are left in the blade
would that not increase a place a fracture may start?


Not trying to rain on what you guys are doing.
I think the trueness and consistancy will be amazing!



Gerry