Greetings from Sydney

[Surfers]

Hello All,
I recently found an old (described as 1930s) propeller in an antique store, it's in pretty bad shape; de-laminating, tips rotting, brass edge is multi-piece and missing in places and/or the timber underneath the brass is rotted. The thing I found interesting was that the propeller has steel rivets through the laminations in a number of locations holding each lamination to it's neighbour. At the rivet locations the timber is counter-bored both sides and then fitted with a steel washer then the rivet is fitted through the laminations. The rivets look original...
The prop is about 6 feet long, has no markings on it, at least none that I could find, and may have been painted green at some stage.
Silly question... should I buy it for $900?

[Dbahnson]

Hello All,

Silly question... should I buy it for $900?

Based on what you've posted I'd say it's way overpriced, at least as a collectible. It may even be an industrial or homemade propeller of some kind, as I've never seen metal rivets in a wooden aircraft propeller.

[Surfers]

Thanks for the advice. I'll get some photos next week. I'm keen to get your further thoughts if that would be ok?

[Dbahnson]

Sure. That's why we're here.

[Surfers]

I hope I've attached 3 photos; they show each half of the prop and the rivet detail... like us all, I hope I found something special! I am prepared to be shot down though! Please be gentle. The propeller looks like an authentic flying one to me but I really don't know anything about them. As described it has had a hard life and is very expensive... I've negotiated to $950.00.
Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

[Dbahnson]

I think it's junk. While I think it probably "was" an aircraft propeller, it is not identifiable and between natural deterioration of wood and what looks like a carving out of the hub it's really not what I would consider to be "collectible" and therefore has very little intrinsic value. If someone gave it to me I would probably give it away to someone else.

I'm very suspicious that the rivets are in fact not "original". It may have been so badly delaminated that someone felt that the only way to "laminate it back" was to use rivets to do so. After all, wooden propellers have had glued laminations for over 100 years, and most of them are still solid even without pins. (Some were reinforced with wooden dowels, but that WAS "original".)

[Surfers]

Ok, thanks. I guess you've saved me a pile of dough. I have to say I'm a little disappointed but on balance it really is in bad shape and is super expensive. I'm sure I'll find another somewhere sometime.
Many thanks.