There's a long history with ongoing discussion about new and coming (and gone) canard aircraft that have been in the works over the years. This thread makes for some interested reading and lessons to be learned.

We'll be adding a list of curated links to the Canard Zone in the coming weeks, but here are a few in the meantime for your browsing pleasure...

Here's how I built a couple of props. The first one was good right out of the box--credit beginner's luck. The second one which I will discuss here took a lot of adjusting;  you might find it interesting.  At the outset, I will admit that it's easier to just buy a prop but what fun is that!   There are probably easier ways to draw prop blades with a 3D CAD program but this is was my method.

1. The first thing is to decide what length and pitch to build. I kept a list of props I read about that a people were using with a given HP and speed range and put them on a spreadsheet. (pic 1) Comparing pitch is tricky because a prop builder might be quoting the pitch of the flat side or the pitch of the prop's chord line. There can be several degrees difference.  I just assumed that every pitch was quoted at the chord line.

2. Pitch is quoted in inches at the 75% station. It is the geometric distance a prop with no slippage will advance forward in one rotation.  However, a builder must know the chord pitch angle.  My spreadsheet converted pitch-inches into a pitch angle.  I chose 26.8° chord pitch angle for my 180 hp engine and a 67“ length. From some previous experimenting, I believe length is not too critical. Pitch and tip thinness make a big difference.

3. I used six nice maple boards, 3/4” thick, so the hub thickness would be 4.5”.  I scraped them as recommended to open the pores and glued them together with Weldwood Plastic Resin glue, rolling glue on both surfaces and flipping the growth rings for each board, and clamped them tight for a couple of days. (pic 2) The Weldwood product was recommended because it has a more generous working time than Resorcinol. 

 

Your correspondent in Concord N.C. reporting:
I have always been a little suspicious of the plans Long-EZ engine mounting points. No good reason, really. If you use 4130 angles or thicker 2024 angles in the firewall, it seems to hold up fine in service, so no need to do anything much different.
 
However, I built a Cozy IV and like the way Nat re-designed the engine mounts in the C-IV so I thought I would go that direction. I got a good deal on an 0-320-H2AD. There is no mount or dynafocal ring made that would work, AFAICT--so I bought a dynafocal cup set from ACS to make my own dynafocal ring. Surprise! I thought the cups would come welded-up but you only get the steel--three pieces for each cup--and have to weld them to make the cups. Not too hard to do, though.
 
I had to start by machining some aluminum substitutes for the dynafocal doughnuts to postion the cups in the correct position. (BTW, a compressed dynafocal doughnut and cup is 2" thick) After that it was a solid 4-5 days of work for me. Goes like that when you have to re-sharpen about a hundred tungstens, find your misplaced spectacles, etc. Seems like I ought to have more tubes but compare it to a C-IV mount from the Cozygirrrls. Mine looks at least as robust as Nat's design which is holding up well. I might add another cross brace at the bottom.
 
Here are three pics of my mount with the alum spacers I made, a regulation C-IV mount from the Cozygirrrls, and a mount from the internet that might have been for an O-540. That one is stout.