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AB7031 Siddelely Puma prop

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  • #16
    Prop conservation

    This is what I suggest you do with your prop.

    1, Clean it. Do a small test patch with turps, if the finish does not react clean the whole prop. If it does react try Liberon furniture cleaner or warm water with some dishwashing liquid. You might as well remove whats left of the material (there doesn’t appear to be much left anyway).

    2, Once the prop is clean, let it fully dry. Seal any areas where the finish is missing with shellac applied with a soft brush. 2 coats will be fine. Once the shellac is dry go over the whole prop with fine steel wool (0000).

    3, Then wax with Liberon dark oak wax. This wax is tinted dark brown and should even out the colour ( follow the instructions on the tin)

    You should NEVER apply oil or wax to unsealed timber unless you want to match a fully oiled or wax finish - these finishes basically died out with the introduction of shellac finishes. Once the timber is sealed you can easily removed what you applied on top if you are unhappy with the results. If it is unsealed the applied product will have seeped into the grain and it will be differicult or impossible to remove. If the wax doesnt even out the finish as you might like, wipe it down with turps, mix some brown umber or vandyke in a soulition of shellac (you dont need much tinting medium). Apply the tinted shellac in thin coats until you get the desired effect. Go over whole prop with very fine steel wool, then reapply the wax.

    Hope this helps,

    Regards,


    Adrian.

    Comment


    • #17
      A couple of other notes

      I agree with Bob, generally I would NEVER remove any original material. In this case though the is very little left - in fact I have more hair than this prop has material, so I really dont think it matters. Every item has to be acessed as it is, not two items are the same.

      Re the wood worm - if you think the wood worm is still active - buy a siringe with a thin needle from the chemist and put a little turps in every hole - this will kill the worm - or you can put it in a plastic bag and gas it.

      I dont believe any props had an oil finish - and I would never apply oil to a prop, especially one with unsealed timber areas.


      Regards,


      Adrian.

      Comment


      • #18
        Many thanks for this advice Oinkitt - I will proceed as advised, and post up some before and after photos in due course. Thank you again,

        Kerry

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        • #19
          Cleaned up prop

          This is what it looks like now - I'll post up a further image of the AIP numbers I found plus any other symbols or figures I can find.
          Attached Files

          Comment


          • #20
            Hi Kerry,

            Many thanks for posting these pictures. It is so rare people take time to do this after knowing what they were looking for!
            Seems to me you make a very good job. The white strip (very good idea to spare it!) is the gun timing mark.

            Very best regards,
            PM

            Comment


            • #21
              Hi Kerry

              Nice job. I am wondering if you have used the shellac first, followed by the
              bees wax or did you applied a different procedure?

              Best regards
              Gino

              Comment


              • #22
                Do these numbers mean anything?

                It was washed with soapy water, glued and clamped to try to reverse the delamination that had taken place, treatment squirted in with a syringe into the woodworm holes, then a bit of beeswax.

                ...continuing with trying to identify this rther delapidated propeller, possibly form a DH4, can anyone tell me what the numbers mean in the attached pictures?
                Attached Files

                Comment


                • #23
                  Hello Kerry,

                  Good to hear from you. Congratulations on your prop. It looks super, compared with its original state. This conservation has not altered the construction or material of the prop in any way, has preserved its life considerably and has increased the value at auction here in the UK from around £1000 GBP to perhaps £1700 GBP ($c2600 USD).

                  The lettering is;

                  AID; these four stamps are airwothiness acceptance stamps made at four stages of construction by inspectors from the Aeronautical Inspection Department. Typically they are of borderline legibility and I can't read the numbers except for N87, which I hadn't previously seen and have now recorded in my database, for which, many thanks.

                  BHP; these letters are often interpreted as brake horse power but this thought causes consternation when written as BHP 200 HP. Here they indicate Beardmore, Halford and Pullinger who were the maker and designer of this engine which was rated at 200hp.

                  75; I don't know. Possibly the gun timing at 75 degrees past the datum line? This is a wild guess on my part!

                  What is absent from your data are the G and N numbers which were introduced in late 1917. They indicate a batch number which can be dated. This might well be because your prop was made before then. This is useful because it eliminates the DH9 from the possibilities. Also eliminated is the Bristol F2A and F2B because they used the improved version of this engine, the Siddeley Puma of 230 hp.

                  So at last we have a likley attribution; it's from an AIRCO DH4 designed by Geoffery de Haviland.

                  I think you told me you were about to Herrick when we last spoke. If so, welcome home.

                  With kind regards,

                  Bob
                  Bob Gardner
                  Author; WW1 British Propellers, WWI German Propellers
                  http://www.aeroclocks.com

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Hi Bob,

                    many thanks - I'll now take a microscopic look to see if I can identify and then note down any numbers, rather than just photo them - the flash tends to bleach out the rather worn detail.

                    I'm surprised it might fetch anything near the figure you mentioned, given that one chap on this thread commented that he had more hair left on his head than this prop has material .

                    I'll report back once I have tried to elicit more number sand see if I can find a G and an N number.

                    And yes, back from H14 safe and sound, thank Goodness.

                    More soon and thanks once again,

                    Kerry

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