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Above is an illustration showing the “Progressive steps in the making of a model propeller”.

This illustration was shamelessly scanned from a copy of Popular Aviation dated August 1933. In over 83 years the process has not changed at all—as this illustration serves us well.

One thing that has changed is that although you can start with a simple block of wood and progress through the different steps necessary to finally get to a finished propeller, there are companies on the Internet willing to do much of the preliminary work for you. Give them the diameter and the pitch and they will make a blank worthy of finishing for your “old timer” or “nostalgia class” model aircraft.

Before i provide you a list of these sources, which is at the end of this article, I want to draw your attention to an excellent tutorial that shows you all the steps to make your own propeller from “scratch”, that is from a square blank of balsa wood, and doing it the old fashioned way. Even if you choose to go the route of a “finished” blank provided to you, you owe yourself a look at this tutorial because it will tell you precisely what you need to to to finish your “masterpiece whether you start from a square bock of wood or have a “ready to go” piece to start with. The author is 

The link is:

http://www.endlesslift.com/carving-a-balsa-propeller/

Here are two more screen shots from the tutorial— the left one showing the process approximately half way done and the right one showing an almost finished product. Notice that the photos of the prop being carved from the tutorial that was uploaded in April of 2013 bear a remarkable resemblance to the props at different stages in the illustration published in 1933. Remarkable!