What wood?

[Rowland]

Hi, I'm new to this forum, and obviously know very little about wooden propellers as such, but having a Grandfather that was employed in WW1, I am fascinated. However I'd like to know what wood was used to make them at that time? Also, they are made up of laminated sections, but how many pieces would generally be used?
Thanks Rowland

[Dbahnson]

Mahogany was the wood of choice in WW1, especially among French and British aircraft as well as the few U.S. planes (DH4s) used in that war. German propellers were often composed of mixed woods, presumably to combine various wood properties in a structurally advantageous way. Walnut was fairly common as well, but the lighter colored woods didn't really start appearing much until the 20s and later, and are still being used today.

The number of laminations depends on the thickness of the hub, but even with metric woodworking the typical thickness for each lamination was around 3/4 inch, mostly just because that was more or less the result of standard milling for furniture, etc. On your propeller tip you will only see three or four laminations (depending on pitch), since the thickness of the wood blank at the end of the prop is less than at the hub, as in this diagram.

[Rowland]

Thank you very much for that informed reply. Looking at the diagram, I wouldn't have wanted to try to make them!