Just let everyone know, the new VooDoo props are on the market! I just got in my first order. They are the NEW 440 high carbon stainless steel. The hardest metal, props out there. Also you can see in the one photo, there is also BIG props. There has been a call for big props for the inline twin engines. The selection has just been the big ABC brass props. NowVooDoo is bringing to market some of the big stainless props. You can see the 80 m.m. props next to a 70 m.m. prop.

Are these propellers sold in the hardened condition or are sold as cast?

Jim Allen

They are not sold hardened. But I can tell after working on the first one, that this new material is WAY harder than the older stainless props. Cleaning out the hole in the hub burned up my HSS drill bit. Have to buy some carbide bits. And thinning one took twice as long as the older props. One of the new ones I did for myself shaved the hair off my arm. You can make them like a razor. Then holding it on the cupping ball and adding some cup, I looked down and there was blood on the table. It was so sharp I did not even feel it cutting into my thumb holding it on the ball. The one I did is like a ABC 2716/2 20* prop. If you ever saw a 2716/2 20* you know how thin they are right from the package. When I got done with the new prop I put them both on a scale and the ABC 2716 was 1.3 oz. and the new voodoo was 1.0 oz.

If they are made of 440C, they would be capable of attaining, after heat treatment, the highest strength, hardness and wear resistance of all the stainless alloys. Tempering in the 590* to 675*C range lowers the hardness & gives the steel very high impact resistance after hardening. The steel's very high carbon content is responsible for these characteristics, which makes 440C well suited to such applications as ball bearings. Even though the steel is easily work hardened, it can be annealed before working & then hardened. It would be interesting to see how thin a blade could be made using this alloy .

Jim Allen