Just a quick post to let you know that one of my favorite tools - the Great Planes Easy-Touch Hand Sander - now appears to be back on the market!
This simple but really well-designed sanding block is a must have for hobbyists, including model rocketeers. They're lightweight, easy to use, and comfortable to work with even when sanding for a long stretch of time. I have three of them, so that I can quickly switch between coarser and finer grits of sandpaper.
Because you adhere sandpaper directly to the face of the sander, the sanding surface remains perfectly flat while you work, something you can't quite achieve by wrapping a piece of sandpaper around a block. You can either use standard sandpaper shot with spray adhesive, or self-adhesive sandpaper strips which come in long rolls. I get mine from Klingspor.
Earlier today, the Great Planes website was down, and I worried the company had gone under. It was one of the casualties of the big Hobbico bankruptcy, which had some of us worried about the future of Estes.
While it ended up working out better for Estes than anybody could have imagined, Great Planes seems to have taken longer to recover. I don't know who owns them now, but I can say that I've been watching their stock of tools for a while, and the hand sanders were on "back order" on the Great Planes website for ages, and couldn't be found anywhere else.
But the Great Planes website is now back online, and the hand sanders are back up for order there, as well as on Amazon.
So, if you see one pop up on eBay for an inflated price, save your money. Order one directly from Great Planes or Amazon. Heck, order two or three. This is a great tool for rocketry. Very comfortable to use, and you'll use it on every build.
While you're at it, check out my post on how to apply and remove self-adhesive sandpaper to the hand sander without having to spend an hour peeling off sticky adhesive.
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