provided by a flexible carrier impregnated with at adhesive encapsulant a shaped rubber grommet 60 is provided around the blade to be machined the grommet protects the hub 21 from contacting the adhesive used in the support as an alternative a liquid maskant or a rubber sheet that has a plurality of blade receiving apertures that allows it to span multiple blades could be placed between over the hub a fabric pre impregnated with an adhesive is wound round the blade or if in the form of a sock placed over the blade and allowed to cure to solidify the fabric to the blade if the fabric is not pre impregnated it can be wound round the blade with one or more applications of adhesive by brushing spraying or dipping at appropriate intervals during the layering of the fabric once sufficient layers have been provided the adhesive is allowed to cure to provide a support 62 ready to support the blade during machining of the blade as an alternative to the fabric with may be of cotton or a synthetic weave a foam or sponge may be used that could solidify with the foam to create a strong matrix composite advantageously this could be applied in a single layer that avoids the need for multiple layers and which could speed up the repair process synthetic fabrics such as knitted fibreglass or carbon fibre can be impregnated with polyurethane are flexible enough to allow accurate moulding to the blade the fabric with the polyurethane can cure quickly to provide a rigid support once the blade is fully supported it is possible.