Hot glue advice needed

BuckeyeDennis · Post by **BuckeyeDennis** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 10:32 pm

My first real-project panel glue-up, on some half-decent cherry wood, went pretty well. I used the roughest boards for some interior panels, to gain experience where the flaws would not be seen. They turned out pretty well, thanks to a set of Shopsmith double-bar clamps that I had bought on eBay a while back. But even those fancy clamps could not quite take the bow out of one the boards.

I had debated whether it was better to glue up 12" panels and then plane flat, or to flatten the boards and then glue up. Regardless of the true merits, that debate was settled by the indisputable facts that my SS 4" jointer cannot face-joint a 5" board, and that my vintage Stanley jointer plane has not yet been restored.

Which got me thinking that I need a planer sled for flattening wide boards. Problem is, my SS planer has only a 4" height capacity, which means that a sled cannot be more than about 2-1/2" thick, as a practical matter. So first, I set about dreaming up some low-profile sled designs, and then I Googled to see what anyone else had come up with.

Google turned up this very simple, yet elegant solution.

So now I need a hot glue gun, and I strongly suspect that my wife's gun that she uses for scrapbooking will not be up to the challenge.

I couldn't find much credible info on the web to help with glue-gun selection. Although I did see one promotional video where hot glue was being slopped all over a biscuit in a panel glue-up. That struck me as a blatant misuse, but who knows? It did get me to wondering what legitimate woodworking applications there might be for hot glue.

Any advice out there for a hot-glue newbie?

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:13 pm

JMHO:

Hot melt glue is for crafty women who have no comprehension of what it takes to stick one object to another object in a manner that will insure structural integrity.

Yes it has some interesting characteristics and there are other uses, but for permanently gluing wood, I think not!

Shim. Hmmmmm!:)

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:20 pm

BuckeyeDennis wrote:My first real-project panel glue-up, on some half-decent cherry wood, went pretty well. I used the roughest boards for some interior panels, to gain experience where the flaws would not be seen. They turned out pretty well, thanks to a set of Shopsmith double-bar clamps that I had bought on eBay a while back. But even those fancy clamps could not quite take the bow out of one the boards.

I had debated whether it was better to glue up 12" panels and then plane flat, or to flatten the boards and then glue up. Regardless of the true merits, that debate was settled by the indisputable facts that my SS 4" jointer cannot face-joint a 5" board, and that my vintage Stanley jointer plane has not yet been restored.

Which got me thinking that I need a planer sled for flattening wide boards. Problem is, my SS planer has only a 4" height capacity, which means that a sled cannot be more than about 2-1/2" thick, as a practical matter. So first, I set about dreaming up some low-profile sled designs, and then I Googled to see what anyone else had come up with.

Google turned up this very simple, yet elegant solution.

So now I need a hot glue gun, and I strongly suspect that my wife's gun that she uses for scrapbooking will not be up to the challenge.

I couldn't find much credible info on the web to help with glue-gun selection. Although I did see one promotional video where hot glue was being slopped all over a biscuit in a panel glue-up. That struck me as a blatant misuse, but who knows? It did get me to wondering what legitimate woodworking applications there might be for hot glue.

Any advice out there for a hot-glue newbie?

What you may need, rather than a hot glue gun, is a hot pot and some hide glue.

I am not an experienced user of hide glue but there are some here on the forum that will swear by it and at least one who uses nothing other.

The only reason to not use your wife's hot glue gun is the wrath that may occur if you damage it.

You probably want to ignore my comments. I did not read your post thoroughly enough to understand what you were using the hot glue for. Beeg's comments caused me to reread.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:38 pm

IF your going to use the hot glue to hold a board on a planer sled. I'd say the double stick tape wood be better to use.
A Hot melt glue gun does have some uses in a wood shop. Like using it to level a ZCI to the table or putting on the face of your metal faced clamps.

BuckeyeDennis · Post by **BuckeyeDennis** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 1:08 pm

beeg wrote:IF your going to use the hot glue to hold a board on a planer sled. I'd say the double stick tape wood be better to use.
A Hot melt glue gun does have some uses in a wood shop. Like using it to level a ZCI to the table or putting on the face of your metal faced clamps.

The main purpose of the hot glue is not to bond the board to the planer sled. It's used more like in the ZCI-levelling application you mention. When the hot glue hardens, it forms a "custom" shim that supports the board to keep it from deflecting under pressure from the planer rollers.

A neat thing about the technique described in the link is the use of tape on both the sled and the board .. on either side of the hot-glue "shims". Hot-glue cleanup is then as simple as just peeling off the tape.

benush26 · Post by **benush26** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 1:47 pm

I used the same technique for a few ZCI blanks on a friends table saw. works like a champ. One thing I had seen was to add wax on the spots on the table opposite the blobs so the glue only stuck to the insert. I presume that's the reason for the tape.

I bought one for quickly adhering a bowl blank to scrap.(rather than brown paper glued between each piece) It worked fine. $5 at HD. They are sort of like ink jet printers. You pay more for the refills than the device.

Not certain about your wife's gun being insufficient. If the stream of glue is really thin like mechanical pencil lead (.05) then, yes I presume it's too small to make enough big blobs, quick enough before the glue hardens. Could you apply the blobs in stages one area at a time?

Not certain if that was any help???

Be well,
Ben

BuckeyeDennis · Post by **BuckeyeDennis** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 2:05 pm

benush26 wrote:I used the same technique for a few ZCI blanks on a friends table saw. works like a champ. One thing I had seen was to add wax on the spots on the table opposite the blobs so the glue only stuck to the insert. I presume that's the reason for the tape.

I bought one for quickly adhering a bowl blank to scrap.(rather than brown paper glued between each piece) It worked fine. $5 at HD. They are sort of like ink jet printers. You pay more for the refills than the device.

Not certain about your wife's gun being insufficient. If the stream of glue is really thin like mechanical pencil lead (.05) then, yes I presume it's too small to make enough big blobs, quick enough before the glue hardens. Could you apply the blobs in stages one area at a time?

Not certain if that was any help???

Be well,
Ben

I like the scrap-block gluing idea -- that's a new one on me. The ZCI application I had heard of before, but had forgotten about it for glue-gun justification!

My main concern about the wife's gun was the available glue capacity. A 6-ft. board with two rows of blobs, spaced a foot apart, would be about a dozen blobs. I understand that each blob is one trigger pull if the gap is small, and more if the gap is large. So I suppose that one might need 20-30 pulls for a really needy board.

Looking at glue guns online, I also saw that there are garden-variety "low temperature" guns, high-temperature guns, and dual-temperature guns. So far, I haven't figured out when one might need the high-temperature capability.

benush26 · Post by **benush26** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 2:28 pm

BuckeyeDennis wrote:I like the scrap-block gluing idea -- that's a new one on me. The ZCI application I had heard of before, but had forgotten about it for glue-gun justification!

My main concern about the wife's gun was the available glue capacity. A 6-ft. board with two rows of blobs, spaced a foot apart, would be about a dozen blobs. I understand that each blob is one trigger pull if the gap is small, and more if the gap is large. So I suppose that one might need 20-30 pulls for a really needy board.

Looking at glue guns online, I also saw that there are garden-variety "low temperature" guns, high-temperature guns, and dual-temperature guns. So far, I haven't figured out when one might need the high-temperature capability.

Regular or low temp for adding pictures and such to an album. That's what I have for using on the bowls. The high temp ones are for construction/ industrial use. The hot industrial guns have a much larger orifice to shoot out the glue. In a previous life, one of my crews used them for quickly attaching cement siding to a cinder block structure. It's been decades and as far as I know they are still in place!

I like that the ONLY person I have to justify toy (er umm tool) costs are to is me and I'm a push over for that sort of thing. Bring that PO and I'll sign it!!

I would think that the hotter the glue, the longer the setup time. I don't know the price of the dual (multi?) temp gun, but it sounds like a decent compromise of both worlds.

berry · Post by **berry** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 3:50 pm

I've been happy with my Surebonder brand glue gun.

I have a planer sled that I've used quite often to surface wide hardwood. But it is PITA to remove the hot melt glue from the sled. Not generally a problem to remove it from the wood being surfaced.

But next time I'll employ this persons use of packing tape. Thanks for posting that link.

My base unit was made from melamine coated particle board.

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 9:38 pm

I love Hot Glue and I use it a lot.
I only mess with the Hot hot glue. The low temp was invented after more than one person got hot glue stuck to their skin.

Caution!!!! No matter how much you shake you hand and jump up and down the hot glue does not come off until you take it off. If it is really hot glue I found you get a blob on you and you quickly pick it off. You will now have three blisters. One where the glue landed first the the other two the tips of your index finger and thumb at you pull it off the first.

Advice if you get hot glue on you stick your hand in the cold water but do not try to remover it until the glue is cool enough not to further burn you.

That said I just hot glue for everything. I love it. I even use it to dry fit. If you tiny amount and just put a dot on the surface you can hold two pieces together long enough to examine all aspects to see if it is right. Then pick the glue off and using the glue of choice put the pieces together permanently.

I use the hot glue to water proof things, build bumpers, build height adjustments. If you use a really thin coat it protects wood and other things from water or other liquids.

I use a Bosch industrial duty hot glue gun and I would say it is one of my most used tools.
I have repaired hoses, shoes, buckets, flower pots, tools with it. I have constructed waterproof washers of it, sealed leaks with it.

I will even let drops of it fall and the spider web that forms from the drip is great to wrap around threaded things to keep them from unscrewing.

I fix my flip flops with it all the time.

I would say since I found hot glue I don't need duct tape half as must anymore.