SIngle blade 180cm

[neildykes]

Can anyone help identify this..
It stands 180 cm high, has a 35 cm chord. Made of "improved" wood - like ply but all grain same direction.
The ribbed root section is oval, being 19 cm high, the oval section being 18x14cm
The shoulder of the blade is 18 cm thick.
This is left hand rotation - maybe from bristol engine?
I haven't found any aircraft it would seem to fit.
Does anyone have an idea what it may be from?

[Dave]

I certainly have no idea, and it may not be possible to know for sure without some identification numbers. It does look like natural wood with just a very fine grain, as it looks as if there are several laminations. Ultra-thin plywood would just be continuous laminations, without what looks like three or four distinct "pieces".

I look at the hub and I can't imagine those small ridges holding back the centrifugal force that must be there at high rpm's.

EDIT
On second look, maybe they are continuous laminations. What looks like imperfections running through the grain may just be staining of some kind.

[neildykes]

The imperfections in the blade are where laminations have lifted and show the glue.
The main body is made up of laminations - approx 40 layers per ply, which is roughly 1 inch thick, with a total of about 8 sections.

The slots on the root are 6mm deep and 6mm wide, the proud wood being about 14mm wide. With a collar on it, it would take the centrifugal load, but it is crude.

There are no marking on it of any kind......

[neildykes]

I think i may have worked it out - this blade supposedly was identified by the Imperial war museum as from a Supermarine Walrus - this turned out to have no resemblence at all, so i dismissed it.......
I've just found a photo of the walrus development, the Sea Otter, which has a Bristol Mercury tractor engine, with a very similar blade pattern to this - maybe that's the answer.