CLEAVERS: Polished or Brushed

[DonziJon]

Last fall I had reason to try a "different" prop on my stock 260HP Minx. My original prop was a 21P Cleaver with a brushed finish. It ran 60 GPS at about 4700rpm. For reasons which I won't get into, I picked up another 21P Cleaver which was Polished...It was BEAUTIFUL to look at. It was SO nice I wondered if I should actually put it on the boat...maybe just mount it and put it on the wall.

Anyway, I put it on the boat and it ran almost 57 at about 5,100rpm. There seemed to be a little less "meat" on the leading edge of the blades when measured with a tape rule..compared with the old prop.

So: Should a "polished" Cleaver be expected to run slower than a "brushed" Cleaver of the same pitch on the same boat? The little less "meat" on the leading edge (measured from front to back) of the polished prop might explain the loss...but ...? Just wondering. John

OH: My old "brushed" 21 Cleaver will cost about $190 to fix. It's a little bent. :bonk:

[mjw930]

I don't think the brushed vs. polished is the issue here. It sounds like the polished prop has been reworked and if you were to put in on a pitch block my guess is it measures closer to a 19P.

Sharpening the leading edge and cleaning up the blade surface will add RPM's but you should also get the equivalent bump in MPH. If you lose MPH then the pitch had changed.