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Spinner Mounting Question

Stockmanreef

Well Known Member
I read the plans and maybe (as usual) I missed something and there is no point where you need to line the spinner up to ensure there is no wobble. Feedback from the mothership also indicated that you don't have to do anything special to get the spinner lined up. I guess you just make sure that the spinner is pushed in tight and the combination of the front and back spinner plate will make the spinner fit perfectly without wobble.

So does the spinner just line up perfectly without wobble?

In the older planes (6, 6, and 8), there is a method to get the spinner lined up using a pencil and rotating the prop.

Are most people putting on the spinner and lining it up by rotating the prop, then putting on the cowling? Or using the method in the plans.

Thanks
 
This being my first offense...

...and not knowing any better, I followed the plan instructions. Worked out perfectly.
 
With that in mind, I think that I could tape or temporarily screw the spinner in place and do the cowling without rotating the prop. That would be nice, since it would leave the engine pickled. Of course, I would have to mount the prop at the angle the flange is now and not horizontal. That could be interesting.

thanks
 
Ken,
You really don't need the spinner fitted to do the cowl but you will need the back plate attached to the prop.
As for fitting the spinner, I went out of my way by using a dial indicator to make sure it comes out perfect and it did but I really had very little movement for changes so I think if I had just done without the dial indicator, it still would have come out great.

Hope this helps.
 
I put the spinner in place temporarily and I still have a question.

I see that the last thing you do is sand the back edge of the spinner flush with the back edge of the spinner back plate. But should the back edge of the spinner line up with the starter ring gear like the spinner plate does prior to drilling? In other words, is the spinner cut well enough that if you put is flat surface that the tip of the nose is dead center.

My spinner is gray, so it is difficult to tell if the spinner is pushed up against the front spinner plate well.
 
I pulled the plugs out of the engine and spun the propeller with a marker on a stand, so that I could get the tip of the spinner to spin in a nice non-wobbling dot that made the smallest center possible. I don't t know that I'd trust the fiberglass mold to be perfect if you just align it on the back side.
 
I pulled the plugs out of the engine and spun the propeller with a marker on a stand, so that I could get the tip of the spinner to spin in a nice non-wobbling dot that made the smallest center possible. I don't t know that I'd trust the fiberglass mold to be perfect if you just align it on the back side.

I did something similar, then put a laser on the dot while I drilled the spinner.
 
on a side note:
Vans pre-mark?s the propeller blade cuts on the spinner, these marks are too generous and leaves a large gap with the propeller, did anyone else get caught up with this like I did :mad:, maybe time for a new spinner and starting over.
 
on a side note:
Vans pre-mark?s the propeller blade cuts on the spinner, these marks are too generous and leaves a large gap with the propeller, did anyone else get caught up with this like I did :mad:, maybe time for a new spinner and starting over.

I didn't think I could trust them. Got a template direct from Hartzell and used that as a guide. It was very close, but I still cut small and worked my way out to correct size.

Larry
 
on a side note:
Vans pre-mark?s the propeller blade cuts on the spinner, these marks are too generous and leaves a large gap with the propeller, did anyone else get caught up with this like I did :mad:, maybe time for a new spinner and starting over.

I used their marks and ended up adjusting some to give good clearance through full prop movement. By the time I put the gap filler back in (the small fiberglass pieces permanently mounted to spinner backplate), the gap isn't an issue for me.
 
on a side note:
Vans pre-mark?s the propeller blade cuts on the spinner, these marks are too generous and leaves a large gap with the propeller, did anyone else get caught up with this like I did :mad:, maybe time for a new spinner and starting over.

Have you rotated the propeller blades through their entire range and confirmed proper clearance?

Blade rotation requires quite a bit more gap than most people would think. The marked opening are for the propeller recommended by Van's though. If using a different propeller it is probably a good idea to start a bit small and adjust for what you have.
 
I might ask this in a separate thread, but I will start here. I have a question about the Spinner Gap Filler. This is an observation and question.

So I followed the plans (I think).

44-03 Step 1: Use a hacksaw......Position the cuts along the inside edge of the marked line.

Well I did this, but the marked line on my spinner was done with a very thick marker, while in the plans it clearly shows the line as something made with a sharp point pen. Anyway, after sanding to get the spinner to fit around the prop, the gap filler is 5/64" (3-4 mm) narrower than the spinner. If you look at Figure 3 on 44-05, you will see that the gap filler might have a 1/8" gap on either side, maybe less. Mine will be a lot more. I am not sure if I should line the gap filler so that it has an equal gap on both sides or line it up to one side, then try to span the gap somehow with fiber glass. My fiberglass skills are not that good.

I think that the plans should be changed to state, cut to the inside of the outside edge of the black mark line. I had to sand to completely get rid of the black line to get the spinner to fit. Currently, the spinner just clears the prop (I have not rotate prop yet). Once I get 1/8" clear for the prop in the "neutral position", the gap filler will be off by almost 1/2" if I drop the lines straight back to the back spinner plate. I guess I can not make the line straight back. Not sure how this will work out at this point. Many of you might say: "you should have know to cut to the outside edge of the black marked line."

Does any one know if Harzel (or any one) sell gap fillers that are the correct size? I know that this is a dumb question.

I think that the easier thing would be to do is to buy a new spinner and cut out the gap fillers from the new one to the correct position, then use those and keep the extra spinner just in sase i need it as a later date.

Wonder how much spinner costs.
 
I used the spinner itself as a form to make a new gap filler piece. Wax up the outside and make a 4-ply layup on the edge away from the gap. When you pop it off you can trim to fit perfectly. Packing tape works too and keeps from having to worry about epoxy getting over the edge. After I made the piece I sanded and did a small layup on the back to make an edge that goes under the spinner to take a nut plate and the screw so that the gap filler fits in without another reinforcing piece.
 
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JDR_BTR--

My fiberglass skills are up to the task that you suggest. I guess I will trim the spinner to the 1/8" clearance first and then build the new part.

Now I have a reason to use some of that huge excess of fiber that I purchased.

thanks
ken
 
Tim--

So I assume that the difference in thickness does not matter in this case and that after painting, it would not be visible anyway.

True?
 
I just did mine per plans. There's a small gap but I really don't notice or think about it much.


IMG_0400.jpg
 
Tim--

So I assume that the difference in thickness does not matter in this case and that after painting, it would not be visible anyway.

True?

You can measure the fiberglass if you want and use a different thickness of aluminum if you wish, such as .050 or whatever matches. I used .063 on both airplanes.

The big thing to remember is come paint time, you'll want to paint whatever you fill that part with, along with the spinner. I forgot that on my RV-14. I had the part alodined gold, so it still looks good, and you'd never notice if you weren't looking for it, but it worked out fine.
 
I purchased at the fly market at OSH, a few various sheets of .032, .040, .050, .063, .090 just to have around as scrap for fabricating things. you'll find endless times that you may want to make a custom bracket or something. Nothing wrong with .032, but if it were me, I'd pick whatever is closest to the fiberglass that you can use, and use that. Having a variety in the shop makes it easy.
 
I just made some out of 0.032. Maybe I will make thicker ones at some point, but there are plenty of other things to do at this point.
 
I was also wondering how other people did the drilling of the holes in the spinner for the front plate. Since my spinner is gray, the plans suggest the magnet trick. I decided to use a laser pointer, which admittedly probably took longer but worked great.

I took off the spinner and lined the laser up such that it went through the hole in the spinner plate on roughly the angle of the spinner plate flange. I then put on the spinner and clecoed a few of the back spinner plate holes. I then used a sharpie to highlight where the hole was. Interestingly, if the sharpie mark is wet, then the laser light goes away. I then removed the laser and drilled the hole. I did this for all the holes, but clecoed all the new holes as I went along. I also drilled with #40 and not #30. So if i missed by a bit, it would not matter after up sizing to #30. I hit all the holes perfectly. Also keep in mind I did this without rotating the prop. The top hole was interesting to line up with the laser. I then upsized to #30. I also did #40 and then #30 on the back spinner plate. Finally, I finally figured out why I have a bunch of #19 clecos. I had enough to cleco every hole in the spinner as I went along

So, I put the spinner on without rotating prop. Hopefully there will be no wobble.

I plan to post this to my FB building page at some point.

cheers
 
Useful in many areas when you're laying out and riveting.

Cleecos aren't the best locating device. In a few spots best calculated to maintain alignment consider drilling with a fractional drill (1/8" instead of #30 for example) and inserting a rivet as you progress with your drilling.
 
Do you know if you can get 063 locally or is this an online sort of thing? What type of place would you buy it locally?

I heard back again from vans indicating to use 063 and not 032.
 
Locally you probably can get scrap at machine shops or various places around town that do fabricating. But you can get it on amazon too. $15 gets you 12x12? 6061-T6 if you search it. Maybe someone else can chime in if that would be the right stuff? I think so, but can?t remember off hand.
 
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