Tow hitch boat propellor

A decorative boat propellor that you can use as a hitch ball cover! For when you have a boating license but you don't have a boat!

The concept is not new, but I didn't like the ones that I could find, so I designed this one myself.

The base, propellor and cap can be printed as separate parts and then screwed together. The clamp can be inserted and replaced if needed.

There are two different mount options:

1. For a swan-neck towbar featuring a 50 mm ISO ball mount use: tow_hitch_boat_propeller_base.stl, this is what we commonly use in Europe. 

2. For 2 inch hitch receivers use: tow_hitch_2 inch shank_v2.stl, this is common in the United States, Canada and Australia

Printing instructions:

All prints use profile "STRUCTURAL"

Base:

• Prusament PLA

• positioned standing on the bolt

• 5 perimiters

• auto generated snug support

Propellor:

• SUNLU Silk PLA+

• positioned on the side, like in the photo, but rotate the propellor so that two blades hit the build plate. Without this rotation, I ended up having a 3cm seam in the back of the blade touching the build plate. Do NOT use random seam, see SUNLU Silk PLA+ notes below.

• 4 perimiters

• 20% infill density

• 20mm brim width

• auto generated organic support

Cap:

• Prusament PLA

• flat on the print bed, pointy side up

• 4 perimiters

• 20% infill density

• no support

Clamp:

• Prusament PETG (To make the clamps more flexible)

• positioned solid ring side flat on the print bed, clamps side up

• brim 10mm

If you like this model and you print it, please post your make! I would love to see your color combinations!

SUNLU Silk PLA+ notes:

I absolutely LOVE the metal look of the SUNLU Silk PLA+ on the boat propellor, however I only managed to print two copies, because the filament now keeps making a popping sound and little bells end up in between of the print layers ruining the entire look of the model! Usually this means that the filament needs to be dried and I tried to do this for 6 and then 12 hours, but I still end up having this issue! I also tried a different nozzle, but no luck. I am really bummed by this, if you know a way to fix this problem, please leave a comment! 

Do NOT use "seam position random" for the Silk PLA! The clue came from the fact that the bubbles were always at the exact same places between different prints and that the bubble spots seemed to exist at the same location for all 4 perimeters on the same layer. 

Disclaimer: Use at your own risk! If you drive around with it, make sure that it's structural safe to do so! You don't want to launch a boat propellor at other traffic!

Edits:

1. Resolved the issue of having random bubbles in the print using the Silk PLA, removed "random seam position" from propellor print settings.