Great Planes Easy-Touch Bar Sander Replacement

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A 3D-printed grip for a T-bar is actually a great idea.
I could probably design one based off the Easy Touch Sanding Bars I have, the Online Metals T bar was .125" thick x 2" wide x 3/4" height and a 48" length was ~$20 + shipping and tax. That would easily make a number of the sanding bars..
 
I don't know anything about the company itself.
I'm a bit late to the question but will say that Du_Bro has been a standard in the model aviation world about as long as 59 year old me has been alive, my father, mother, grandfather, used their products & I'm soon going to buy some odds and ends from them for a couple balsa wood rubberband powered submarines I dug out to finally finish.

:) And to alleviate your information starvation here's a quite nice 2009 history of the company and its people, https://www.modelaviation.com/about-du-bro

A shorter 2019 article from Model Airplane News,
https://www.modelairplanenews.com/du-bro-made-usa/

Back to the boats, Du-Bro wheel collars and push rod make the rudders adjustable,

IMG_8078.JPG
 
The product in the original post also doubles as a door jamb or aluminum angle tool replacement for drawing straight lines on LPR body tubes.
 
I prefer Duragold Sanding blocks. They are more comfortable to hold while sanding.

That soft surface is nice for sanding gentle compound curves, but when you want materials of different density/hardness to all level up, it's not so useful. Or harder surfaces like fiberglass to truly level. Even a true hard (relatively) surface like aluminum isn't perfect, as the soft material may wear away faster in response to the abrasive traveling in the same plane than a tougher material. I'm thinking about glue vs. balsa, or regions of balsa impregnated with glue, edges of fiberglass, or assemblies of ply or bass and balsa, etc.

Right tool for the job and all...
 
I saw this posted on one of the balsa airplane modelers forums. Looks to be the same as the Great Planes Easy-Touch Sanding Bars in 5.5" and 11" lengths, though kinda pricey. I don't know anything about the company itself.

https://www.dubro.com/products/kwik...1&_sid=4c8f2f28a&_ss=r&variant=39755034722388
That certainly looks like the same extrusion the Great Planes sanders are made from, yes. I am glad to see DuBro stepped up to bringing this tool back. The simple T-shaped extrusions like the old ADC one and the one Apogee is selling now just are nowhere near as comfortable and secure to hold. Too bad DuBro didn’t also bring back the 24 incher. There are lots of places where the longer ones would be useful in building an airplane.

The two shorter ones are probably good for most rocketry tasks — at least for LPR and MPR.

Fortunately I have several of the Great Planes tools that date back to before I returned to rocketry when electric RC airplanes were my primary hobby.
 
That certainly looks like the same extrusion the Great Planes sanders are made from, yes. I am glad to see DuBro stepped up to bringing this tool back. The simple T-shaped extrusions like the old ADC one and the one Apogee is selling now just are nowhere near as comfortable and secure to hold. Too bad DuBro didn’t also bring back the 24 incher. There are lots of places where the longer ones would be useful in building an airplane.

The two shorter ones are probably good for most rocketry tasks — at least for LPR and MPR.
I have one of the 5.5" ones... thinking of getting another now that I know about these. Not sure when I would use the longer ones?

I really wish they'd bundle in some finer grits. I have little or no use for 80 and 150 grit in LPR building. Need some 400 at least, which is what I'll be putting on my second one.
 
I have one of the 5.5" ones... thinking of getting another now that I know about these. Not sure when I would use the longer ones?
For example sanding fin skins that are made of joined sheets of balsa. Mega Der Red Max or my upscale 256% Nova Payloader come to mind immediately. Also rounding leading edges on the wings of Frank Burke’s gliders. The closer the sanding tool is to the size of the overall piece, the less chance of unintentional divots….
 
Now if they just offered the 22" version I would be set. They are identical afaict to the original Great Planes version.
I hear they are going to come out with 22 inch version. They are identical to Great Planes sander probably the same maker since Great Planes outsourced most of their stuff
 
This is great to see! I was wishing I had bought a 5.5” one when I bought my 11” one several years ago. I’ll have to pick one (or two!) up. And hopefully it’s true that they come out with a 22”… I’d buy one just to have.
 
Thanks to you bunch of enablers, I just ordered both sizes.
Now I need to get them in hand to know how wide so I can order extra fine sand paper. Lots of self stick available on rolls that are 2 3/4" wide.
 
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Yeah, thanks to this bunch, I ordered the 5" sander. To answer your question, the sander is 2 1/8" wide, but the paper that comes with it is wider, to allow the paper to wrap over the edges of the sander. The 2 3/4" self adhesive rolls will be perfect -- I had ordered a roll of extra fine paper as well and it fits the bill nicely.
 
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A cheap version could be a length of pvc waste pipe of say 32mm diameter glued/screwed to a rectangular length of wood, perhaps 1/8th plywood or hard balsa. Then impact adhesive glue your favourite grit of emery cloth sandpaper to it (the kind they use for power sanding belts, very long lasting).
 
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