what size flat washer do I need to use? And do you have any suggestions on how to make the other prop hole bigger? I don't have a drill and thought of just using a knife and cutting out the hole to make it bigger. Good/bad idea?

Originally Posted by jimbo1101

what size flat washer do I need to use? And do you have any suggestions on how to make the other prop hole bigger? I don't have a drill and thought of just using a knife and cutting out the hole to make it bigger. Good/bad idea?

Bad idea. Buy a drill and a set of drills. It is almost impossible to get into this hobby without a set of minimum tools around. Again, Welcome.
AJ
Option: You could make a 7mm hole in the prop just like 2500GENE does. It is the same exact size as a 270 Winchester special. So...........

Originally Posted by jimbo1101

what size flat washer do I need to use? And do you have any suggestions on how to make the other prop hole bigger? I don't have a drill and thought of just using a knife and cutting out the hole to make it bigger. Good/bad idea?

Depends on how much space there is to fill with the washer. My motor prop hardware came with 2 or 3 very thin washers. I use 1 on either side of the prop. If you need to take up more space used another washer or replace the thin one with a thicker one.

As for cutting out the hole. DON"T. Use a reamer or a precision drill press.

Drill or ream from the precision surface side (larger of the two holes). This side allows you to insert a ring with a precision size hole in it. That hole size needs to be the diameter of your prop shaft.

The first prop I "reamed" out was from the wrong side. When I put it on a prop balancer it was definitely unbalanced which would have destroyed my motor at the rpm it ran.

Originally Posted by ajbaker

Bad idea. Buy a drill and a set of drills. It is almost impossible to get into this hobby without a set of minimum tools around. Again, Welcome.
AJ
Option: You could make a 7mm hole in the prop just like 2500GENE does. It is the same exact size as a 270 Winchester special. So...........

I thought Gene was more of the 22 cal size.

Originally Posted by Eagle202

Depends on how much space there is to fill with the washer. My motor prop hardware came with 2 or 3 very thin washers. I use 1 on either side of the prop. If you need to take up more space used another washer or replace the thin one with a thicker one.

As for cutting out the hole. DON"T. Use a reamer or a precision drill press.

Drill or ream from the precision surface side (larger of the two holes). This side allows you to insert a ring with a precision size hole in it. That hole size needs to be the diameter of your prop shaft.

The first prop I "reamed" out was from the wrong side. When I put it on a prop balancer it was definitely unbalanced which would have destroyed my motor at the rpm it ran.

Where can I buy a set of reamers? What does everyone else use?
Thanks in advance

You can find them at any LHS or even e-bay. I use a step reamer{enlarges the hole in steps} or you could get a tapered reamer as well, the choice is yours.
I got lucky the first time i enlarged a prop with a pair of scissors{yes i no , bad practices}would not recommend that though, like i said, i got lucky.
now my personal favorite is a step reamer.

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by jimbo1101

Where can I buy a set of reamers? What does everyone else use?
Thanks in advance

Here is one : http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXG940&P=ML
AND
Another one: http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXG941&P=ML
Both are excellent. I use the metric one. But, you might need both depending on what type of prop you are going to use it on.
AJ

Originally Posted by jimbo1101

Where can I buy a set of reamers? What does everyone else use?
Thanks in advance

The two inks that AJ sent you would be perfect for your needs. They are not much in price but will save you the cost of a plane if a bad prop takes it down.

Will a power glider like the SS really glide? I went to the field Saturday AM to watch the glider people fly and that was a trip. They launched them with a motorized string and wow did they go up fast and high. These people got all excited when one of the clouds came by with a hole in it and one calls out "ya see it Charlie? Yep and I'm on my way" I ask one of the people "Whats happening?" "See that hole in that cloud? I said yes " the inside edge is rolling into the hole, that a nice thermal" he said.

I watched as 4 of them played with that cloud for half an hour.
Can my SS do that?

DJ

Originally Posted by Sculptor

Will a power glider like the SS really glide? I went to the field Saturday AM to watch the glider people fly and that was a trip. They launched them with a motorized string and wow did they go up fast and high. These people got all excited when one of the clouds came by with a hole in it and one calls out "ya see it Charlie? Yep and I'm on my way" I ask one of the people "Whats happening?" "See that hole in that cloud? I said yes " the inside edge is rolling into the hole, that a nice thermal" he said.

I watched as 4 of them played with that cloud for half an hour.
Can my SS do that?

DJ

Yes it can, I thermal with mine and that is with all of the weight of FPV gear too, but it's not going to thermal as well as their 2m gliders, but it will still work.

On a decent day, I can fly my Bixler for about 30 minutes and come down with 3.8v/cell on a 2200mAH battery. Longer than that and my neck starts to hurt!
I'm using this motor with a 7x4 prop; very efficient and enough thrust to go vertical on a fresh battery.

Is not like having a 2m glider but for a low cost foam plane it does pretty well.

Originally Posted by jimbo1101

Where can I buy a set of reamers? What does everyone else use?
Thanks in advance

I use one of these, but only because I already had it in the tool arsenal. Works good on plastic but you have to take your time. It is tapered so you have to work up to your size slowly because one side will be a tad bigger than the other. If you have a Harbor Freight in your town your golden. My store is about 3 miles away from me.

http://www.harborfreight.com/t-handle-reamer-66936.html

Ron

I use that HF reamer also. Works well but
I also have another solution that has worked very well.

Use these bits and hand drill your props. Start with the first size that won't go through and keep going up 1 size until your prop fits.

http://www.harborfreight.com/13-piec...bits-1800.html

I use this handle for the bits:
http://www.harborfreight.com/7-in-1-...set-94955.html

Never use the bits for anything else and never sharpen them.
The lengths are how you judge bit sizes the easiest.

As you drill a prop you will see 2 tiny strips of plastic peeling up the bit.
That's a good sign that you're drilling straight and center.
Take your time and the drill will simply pull itself through.

Try it, you'll like it.

Originally Posted by Ron RC

I use one of these, but only because I already had it in the tool arsenal. Works good on plastic but you have to take your time. It is tapered so you have to work up to your size slowly because one side will be a tad bigger than the other. If you have a Harbor Freight in your town your golden. My store is about 3 miles away from me.

http://www.harborfreight.com/t-handle-reamer-66936.html

Ron

On my way to harbor freight. Mine is 5.8 miles away.
All you guys ROCK!!!! Thanks so much for helping me.

Is there any advice from the forum on how to proceed as a future sky surfer and help to keep from making newbie mistake? Looks like my plane will be here on Wed.