Propeller Bending

Wow, was I wrong (this is the first mistake I have ever made :-).

Propeller bending as shown in the picture below is an artifact that has something to do with the way digital cameras capture images and is not really due to the prop bending. At least not all the bending you see in the photo is real propeller bending.

Thanks Andrew for the education.

Some bending does occur, but not as much as my digital camera indicates, and this is what makes prop edge dings so dangerous. Think about steel wire. With a file make a small score perpendicular to the wire's axis. Start bending the wire. Where the break will occur? At the score. As a kid, I worked on farms, this is how I would cut fence or bailing wire that was too thick to cut with pliers. I used the cutter on a plier to score the surface, not cut it, and bend it back and forth until it broke. Think of a ding then as a stress point that over several bending sessions could lead to a propeller break. AOPA says that if a ding (also called a nick) is less than 1/32" wide or deep it can be deferred to next maintenance. However, I say that if an AP is nearby holding a file in his/her hands - why not ask? :-)