Painted stainless props......why?

[capri1600]

Why are some stainless steel propellers painted black and what is the coating? It seems like it's powder coated rather than paint. If I could strip it, would it be polishable like bare stainless props are?

Marty
http://www.martyhammersmith.com

 

[ThePartsMan]

Re: Painted stainless props......why?

My Grandpa spray painted his so it wouldn't get stolen.

The cheap paint wouldn't stick and it would look like a half worn aluminum from a distance.

 

[pnwboat]

Re: Painted stainless props......why?

I've wondered the same thing. I've never seen a new "painted" stainless prop offered by any manufacturer out there today, but you never know. I see them occasionally on the auction sites. I don't know, but I am skeptical about a used or reconditioned painted stainless prop. Are they trying to hide something?

I do know that trying to polish one yourself is a lot harder than you think. I've tried that with my 8" bench grinder w/a buffing wheel. After hours and hours of effort, I was only mildly successful. And I was only trying to buff out a small section of each blade. Couldn't imagine trying to do that to a whole propeller. Maybe I just wasn't using the right kind of compound, but I tried a quite a few. That stainless is some hard stuff.

I've seen some repairs done on polished stainless steel, and even the repairs shops don't duplicate the mirror finish of the manufacturer. I suspect that they don't have the time or equipment to get a really nice flawless mirror finish.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Painted stainless props......why?

I have a couple of Chrysler NOS stainless cleaver props. They are painted black with a Chrysler decal on the hub. However, I had one repaired and when the paint was stripped, the base metal was a bit rough so the painting may have been a cost cutting step. Powder coat is thicker that paint and probably will cover a few flaws easily.

 

[bear_69cuda]

Re: Painted stainless props......why?

Power Tech offers black coated stainless props.


http://www.ptprop.com/

 

[Fed]

Re: Painted stainless props......why?

I've got a black 'painted' SS prop that came on my motor (second hand), great prop but it sure is ugly with paint sort of falling off.
I believe it was original OMC from the day (1988) but I could easily be wrong too. It would be nice if it was shiny SS or all black but I can't see any way to make that happen.

 

[Crazydave1243]

Re: Painted stainless props......why?

Most people do this to prevent thives from stealing there high dollar prop. Most thieves think it is just an aluminum prop so why bother. I have a stainless prop on my bass boat that is paint after it omc got stolen a few years back.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Painted stainless props......why?

In the 1970's all of the OMC high performance SS props were coated with black teflon. I used one for 10 years or so and never had one small bit of teflon wear off.

Don't know the reasoning behind it. Probably just a gimmick.