When spiffy, high-tech, high-performance propellers go into the prop shop, they’re carefully restored to their original shape with sophisticated, computerized propeller repair tools, right? Well, no.

“My dad’s propellers were always getting nicked and out of balance,” Cooley remembered. “He would have to drive two hours to drop them off someplace and then wait two weeks for them to be repaired.” ...

Consider, if you will, the humble motorboat propeller. It is small - usually 3 to 20 pounds with a 9 1/2- to 16-inch diameter - and has a simple job. Its task is to keep its head underwater and turn, ...

During my 30-plus-year history with this magazine, reader queries about propellers have remained constant and unrelenting. Questions that once came in letters and phone calls now arrive digitally, but ...