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I'm glad to be among all you experts...about 50 years ago I received an oak prop of the Paragon style. This prop came from the old Bangor Maine airfield hangar (Godfrey Field) and possibly had been in the roof trusses since the early 1920's. Here is what is odd...center hole is there but has not been drilled for the usual 8 mounting bolts. Tips are natural wood, no fabric or metal. The numbers H 137 and 107 are found in hub area. I thought at first that this might be a production pattern since at several radius distances there are very small wire size drill holes. The finish appears to be 'linseed oil', a couple checks at the tips, otherwise a very appealing hunk of oak. There are no decals or other markings. When it was given to me there was a RAILWAY EXPRESS label attached. Any ideas ? I'll try to workup a few decent pics. It looks like your for sale listing Prop Number 1.
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I think the American Propeller Company seriously overproduced the JN4C model propeller (with the pronounce scimitar shape) and production was probably halted fairly suddenly. It's clear that many props were available as surplus in the early twenties, and I think that model was one that was in abundant supply. Some were never finished and otherw were completely done and ready for use. I have seen a science magazine in the early 20's with advertisements for them as display props, and they sold for $3 or $4, depending on whether they had metal sheathing or not.
The other possibility is that it failed inspection during the production process, and a split in a tip would certainly be one of the reasons why that would happen.Dave
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