Impeller sharpening

[Codeman]

One thing about MO, give it five minutes and it will change for sure.

No truer words have ever been spoken. LOL

 

[Seth]

Just tried to sharpen my impeller but dont think i accomplished much. Its a stainless and seemed way too hard to hand file anything off. I have some pics of it but havent got them off camera on to computer yet.Ro you guys use a hand file or something motorized?

Also have a question about tightening the impeller nut. Do I torque it down as much ass possible then back of so I can flip retaining tabs down OR do I tighten it and back of just a tad so it has a little bit of side to side motion? I didnt pay attention to how tight the nut was when I took it off.

 

[Lil' Blue Rude]

I use a wrasp when I sharpen them, then I'll smooth them out with a flat file. When I tighten my nut back I get it as tight as I can. You can normally tell when it's getting snug, keep turning it until the tabs can lay flat on nut, just make sure you get those tabs folded down properly. It's a bad deal if they open back up. $$$

 

[Seth]

What's a wrasp?

I think I better pull the grate and double check the tightness of that nut. I'm pretty sure I could have gotten it a bit tighter than I did.

 

[blunt]

a rasp looks like a file, but is much more aggressive and it's primarily made for shaping wood.

 

[Seth]

a rasp looks like a file, but is much more aggressive and it's primarily made for shaping wood.

I think that's what I was using actually but I couldn't tell that I was taking anything off of the impeller. How long does it take to sharpen one down? Here's a few pictures of my liner and the impeller. The impeller pictures didn't turn out very good.

The leading edge of the impeller ranges from 1/32-1/16". It's pretty chewed up as you can see.

 

[Seth]

Well I worked on sharpening the impeller for a while and it's looking better. My only problem is I'm having a hard time getting the edge to 1/32". Most of the edges are 1/16". It's still quite a bit better than when I started though. Do you guys think I should just keep working on it until I get the edge super thin or will I be alright using it like this? I'm not racing or anything, but I would like to keep my boat performing decent. It seemed fine to me before I did anything to it, but after looking at mine and comparing it my buddies I knew it needed an overhaul.

 

[Lil' Blue Rude]

I HATE DIAL UP INTERNET :evil: :evil: :evil:
This will make the 3rd time today Iv'e tried to post a reply. I hope it works [-o<
Keep sharpening it until you get it down to 1/32". Don't sharpen on the bottoms to much more. If you want some more top end speed you might can try a 3 blade impeller in it. I've always heard people say a 3 blade has better top end speed but a 4 blade has a better hole shot. Oh yeah, I said I use a wrasp but it's actually a *******, not cusing that's what it's called. Close to the same thing but the teeth are finer. It normally takes me around 30 minutes or so to sharpen a 3 blade stainless impeller.

 

[Captain Ahab]

Hi everyone.

I'm new to the board and thought I could help with this question.

Take a look at this link...a guy I know wrote the article...he's great with OB Jets and he's a spokesperson for Snyder...

https://www.snyderboats.com/30minPM.htm

Hey Ken! Glad you made it here, this is NOT PAC or EPFR so I think you will enjoy your time


David

 

[Seth]

I HATE DIAL UP INTERNET :evil: :evil: :evil:
This will make the 3rd time today Iv'e tried to post a reply. I hope it works [-o<
Keep sharpening it until you get it down to 1/32". Don't sharpen on the bottoms to much more. If you want some more top end speed you might can try a 3 blade impeller in it. I've always heard people say a 3 blade has better top end speed but a 4 blade has a better hole shot. Oh yeah, I said I use a wrasp but it's actually a *******, not cusing that's what it's called. Close to the same thing but the teeth are finer. It normally takes me around 30 minutes or so to sharpen a 3 blade stainless impeller.

I wish I could have had this thing done in 30 minutes...... When you say it takes you 30 minutes, is that on any impeller or one that's in somewhat decent shape?

 

[Lil' Blue Rude]

It takes me about 30 minutes on a 6 1/8" stainless because the blades are thin ( maybe an 1/8")and it dosn't take that much to get them to where they need to be even if they get eat up. An aluminium impeller takes about 45 minutes because the blades are thicker. I can't tell much of a diffrence in how long it takes me to sharpen a new impeller or an eat up one. Patience is a virtue (or how ever that's spelled) turn on the radio and get a comfortable chair to sit in. :mrgreen:

 

[Seth]

It takes me about 30 minutes on a 6 1/8" stainless because the blades are thin ( maybe an 1/8")and it dosn't take that much to get them to where they need to be even if they get eat up. An aluminium impeller takes about 45 minutes because the blades are thicker. I can't tell much of a diffrence in how long it takes me to sharpen a new impeller or an eat up one. Patience is a virtue (or how ever that's spelled) turn on the radio and get a comfortable chair to sit in. :mrgreen:

I finally got it finished up last night. It didn't take me too much longer to get the edges all down to 1/32". Now I am ready for a boat ride!

 

[Lil' Blue Rude]

Let me know how it turns out. I'm ready for summer .

 

[Seth]

I took the boat out fishing today and got to run it. Apparently I dont have something right because it seemed like it took longer to plain out than before. Top speed was pretty much the same. My rpms were 100-200 lower than normal at WOT too.

I put the same shims in place as before but it almost looked too close to the liner. Im gonna have to play with the shims and see if that fixes the problem. Otherwise I guess I will just take it to Cowtown or Troutt and have them resharpen the impeller.

Good news is I caught my first walleye today. It was a 4# sow. She will taste real good in batter and hot grease tomorrow!

 

[Lil' Blue Rude]

I don't know, it might have something to do with it being a four blade impeller. How many rpm's did you turn before? If you can take some more pictures and post them.

 

[Seth]

I will take somepics tomorrow. I am pretty sure i was getting 5300-5400 at wot but only got 5100-5200 today.

 

[turne032]

the sharper you impeller is the more water it picks up an it cuts rpms

 

[georgiaken]

I took my impeller out yesterday and sharpened it. Good news...it's SS. Bad news...takes longer to sharpen

I used a rasp/file and finished it off with my Dremel and a sandpaper attachment.

I'm taking it out today to see if I did everything right.

Funny thing...I'm glad I took it apart before I ran it again. The impeller had about 3/4" of play on the shaft (not good). I'm sure that contributed to the liner being gouged.

And the foot will need to be replaced...I could only get the grate pin out on one side. The other side is all mashed up from a "hit." I even tried re-drilling the hole, but it appears as though the pin probably got bent when it hit, so it just wouldn't budge. The whole side is kind of crushed.

I've been toying with the idea of taking it apart again and smoothing out the entire impeller and liner with fine grit sandpaper. It might happen, it might not. I still have to install the new trolling motor and run the wiring for my bow mounted fish finder.

With fishing season around the corner, tinkering with the boat might have to take a backseat.

The good news: since it's early Spring, I don't need to be on the water at 6AM...I can tinker on the boat in the morning and arrive on the water before noon.

 

[optaylor823]

Ok I understand the sharpening part, but when it comes to polishing I am lost. I run my boat across shoals and some time suck up rock, so not really sure if I would want to spend the time and effort to polish things just to suck up a rock next week. Do you really gain that much polishing one and if so how often are you having to polish one to keep that gain up.

 

[turne032]

if you routine suck up rocks polishing is not the way to go.

but it does help.