Great Planes Hand Sanders Back On the Market!

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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Estes Posts More "Coming Soon"

The above was posted on Estes' Facebook page today.


Some folks got a little concerned when the Estes website seemed to be down a few hours ago, but it appears to have been only a hiccup which would have gone unnoticed if we weren't all a bit on edge recently.

I want to refrain from too much public speculation about what the Hobbico bankruptcy might or might not mean for the future of Estes. But I will take the continuing announcement of new rockets as a positive sign and continue to hope for the best.

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Hobbico Bankruptcy

Hobbico, the Champaign, IL company which owns Estes Industries (along with a large number of hobby outfitters), is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and layoffs may begin in April, according to an article on the Champaign News-Gazette website.

I do not know what this means for the future of Estes (though I have read a lot of speculation online), but I am quite concerned. One line in the article in particular has me worried:

Hobbico “has determined that it may be necessary in the near future to permanently close and discontinue all of its operations in connection with a bankruptcy case to be filed under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code,” wrote human resources Director Howard Salazar in a letter dated Wednesday obtained by The News-Gazette.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy does not necessarily mean going out of business, but it may mean that Hobbico will have to sell off what it can. And though those of us in this hobby love Estes, in today's climate where this is rather an underground hobby, who will buy a model rocket company? 

Somebody, I hope! This is not the first time Estes has been up for auction. But nothing is guaranteed in this world. There are other model rocket companies, but as of right now there are no other low power model rocket motor manufacturers, and that's key.

Estes isn't really in the model rocket kit business - it's in the model rocket motor business. The kits are what they make so we'll have something to burn motors in. That's how they make money, and it's why we need them.

There are other model rocket kit companies, and you can always design your own and build from scratch. And, of course, there are AeroTech and Cesaroni composite motors - most of them mid and high power, but a few smaller ones. Once AeroTech/Quest come out with their line of Q-Jet composite motors, you'll have something low power to fly your standard 18mm model rocket kits on.

But without small, easy-to-use black powder model rocket motors, I worry for the future of this hobby. BP motors are cheap, and simple enough for kids to use without too much fiddling. And you've got to keep getting kids into this hobby if you want it to remain strong and not die out.

I'm usually pretty skeptical when I see people in online forums claiming the sky is falling after seeing a news article about something negative happening in model rocketry. Whenever there's an incident or accident, someone always claims that this is the end, folks. And it never has been so far.

But guys, I just got into this thing a few years ago, and it means so much to me! So this is one news story which actually has me rather worried.

So, let's all hope for the best, and maybe pool our money...

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go check my PowerBall ticket, to see if I can afford to buy a model rocket company.

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