gcarter
02-18-2008, 06:17 PM
The word "CLEVER" has been used a number of times in reference to propellor.........I couldn't quite get the connection, so I dug out my old dictionary......you know, the kind printed on paper:eek!:
So here we go;
CLEVER, adj. 1. Having a quick mind, bright, intelligent, "She is the cleverest person in our family".
2. Skillful in doing some particular thing, " He is a clever carpenter".
Well, I never knew of a propellor that was sentient, although I had a friend once who was always talking about "Mr Pencil" or whatever else he had in his hand. So I then looked up "CLEAVER";
CLEAVER, n. A cutting tool with a heavy blade and a short handle, a butcher uses a cleaver to cut through bone.
Well OK! I've seen propellors with blades that looked like a certain cutting tool. The only difference is a butchers cleaver has a sharp leading edge, while a cleaver propellor has a very blunt thick trailing edge. The whole idea in the design was to eliminate material on the blades where cavitation might occur at high speeds. But what works well at high speed might not work so well at low speeds, so a cleaver prop might blow out easily at low speeds. While very popular in the '80's, propellor design (maybe even clever propellor design) has advanced tremendously in the last 25 years and it's now possible to have an overall better performing propellor with more of a round ear. Still lots of old cleavers running around....I even have one stored in a corner of the shop. I wouldn't let anyone use it though.
So here we go;
CLEVER, adj. 1. Having a quick mind, bright, intelligent, "She is the cleverest person in our family".
2. Skillful in doing some particular thing, " He is a clever carpenter".
Well, I never knew of a propellor that was sentient, although I had a friend once who was always talking about "Mr Pencil" or whatever else he had in his hand. So I then looked up "CLEAVER";
CLEAVER, n. A cutting tool with a heavy blade and a short handle, a butcher uses a cleaver to cut through bone.
Well OK! I've seen propellors with blades that looked like a certain cutting tool. The only difference is a butchers cleaver has a sharp leading edge, while a cleaver propellor has a very blunt thick trailing edge. The whole idea in the design was to eliminate material on the blades where cavitation might occur at high speeds. But what works well at high speed might not work so well at low speeds, so a cleaver prop might blow out easily at low speeds. While very popular in the '80's, propellor design (maybe even clever propellor design) has advanced tremendously in the last 25 years and it's now possible to have an overall better performing propellor with more of a round ear. Still lots of old cleavers running around....I even have one stored in a corner of the shop. I wouldn't let anyone use it though.