Folding Propeller Adapter kit

thingiverse

Very often once you have the entire power/drive train calculated and ironed out for maximum efficiency, you do not get the perfectly sized folding prop. Here I try to explore the concept of having a kit that transforms any prop to a folding prop, taking into account the popular 10x4.5" prop as a starting point. This is intended to work with a A2212/1000kv motor on a Blunt-Versa wing, which is my case, but it can be adapted for other motors and wings. The print layer direction has been very specifically chosen to optimize on print strength, hence the supports are also included to work perfectly without using auto-generated supports. I include a few Gcode files for use as examples to setup the built plate in your slicer of choice, which is important to get it right. This prints fine in PLA and I have tested the setup on a 3S lipo with 700gms thrust, resulting in stable and vibration-free blades. Probably ABS is better after thorough acetone treatment, but most people have their printers set up to print PLA reliably so I chose to use PLA. As always, I would thank the community for teaching me so much and ask anyone/everyone to take forward my work and improve it. I include source files in the post. Hopefully some other very popular props will be added soon, and maybe someone does some more tests and improves the design. Maybe something more 'universal' can be achieved. Print Settings Printer Brand: RepRap Printer: Prusa i3 Rework Rafts: Doesn't Matter Supports: No Resolution: 0.2mm Infill: 20% Notes: NOTE/WARNING: The part spins at very high speeds, so it is dangerous. Take necessary precautions, please! Make sure your printer is very well tuned and you get generally strong parts. You can bump up the print temperature a couple of degrees to get much better inter-layer adhesion. If you print in ABS, do make sure you do a thorough acetone treatment to fuse layers. Never miss out on balancing your props before putting on a motor. Make sure you have a vibration-free motor and mount. Wear eye protection when running tests. Post-Printing Assembly Remove supports and sand off the support marks. Carefully drill the M3 and M5 holes making sure you do not get a layer separation. Run thin CA glue on the layers (PLA) to make the parts stronger. Assemble using appropriately sized M3 screws and lock-nuts. (or thread lock) Place the assembly and the prop on a M5 rod/screw/bolt and mark the propeller for cut marks using a sharpie. The target is to keep the final dia of the folding-prop to be same as the original fixed-prop. Cut the original prop using a hacksaw. (careful with a dremel / high-speed tool. It will deform the plastic prop shape) Sand the ends of the blade so that it gets into the blade-holders. check fit. Fix the blades to the blade-holder with epoxy. (use a slower one for better strength and penetration) TIP: All you have to make sure is that the propeller is symmetric on both the blades.