Ed in Tampa wrote: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.
Shhh ... Red Green might hear! My favorite Red Green quote: "With duct tape, you could stick puddin' to air!"
I had just returned from Vietnam and got started using my GI bill for some schooling. We had (wife and I) a small apartment and got moved in. One of the first things to arrive in our mail box was a padded envelope from one of my brothers. Inside was a hot melt glue gun and glue sticks. That would be fall 1971.
I had never seen anything like this, not sure how long they had been around by then??? It was new to my brother as well and he liked his so well he just had to get one for me.
I still have it and still use it from time to time.
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Later models had added a feed mechanism so I had to get one of those, but they were not ready for prime time, at least the model I selected. With in a few months it failed and had to be trashed.
Not to be assumed as all bad they had also went to longer glue sticks by then so a few few few years later I purchased this one.
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It still works fine and is my current version. Since this is getting to be an older model I can not speak of what the current versions of these are like.
If I recall correctly at first they had 3 types of glue sticks. One was for doing like a caulking, it worked for some applications but not for fish tanks as I found out at some point. It was also way to hard to get off for temporary window sealing. In fact I never found it all that good for anything. Then there were two glues, a darker color that took longer to melt and held better, and an almost clear one that was great for crafts. Super useful, we even did what we thought would be only a temporary fix of a hemline just before had to head off somewhere quickly. The hem held for the life of the garment!
One issue I found with using it with wood was that any wood with open grain was a problem. The glue melted in to the gain and it just will not come out. I have piece of walnut from years past I found again last summer with the glue clearly visible. While the intent was to hold it in place the result was a waste of the wood. Just a little something I found and now avoid.
The second thing is that I could never get it to thin enough to not be visible at seams. The glue is hot as it goes on but starts to cool and as the second piece of wood contacts it the cooling is increased, by the time it is clamped it has become less and less mobile and that is that. Tacking something in place is one thing, gluing it for looks is quite another.
Next thing is how big an area can you glue even if it is just temporary before the glue cools to much. Tacking down say a 4" x 4" piece works. But by the time you want to do say an 12" x 12" piece it might or might not work. I found I wasn't finding this fun anymore so now I only use it for small pieces.
It doesn't work on kids plastic cars and the like and believe me I've tried. Spend 20 minutes glue it up and the kid is back a minute later with the broken toy.
OK there are a lot of plus aspects but be aware there are other sides to the coin. And keep in mind I don't have any of the current products so they could be much improved.
I like to use good double side tape for a lot of projects. For things like wedges to use on a planner in most cases tape on one side holds it in place and lets you get it off for when you need to move on. In fact tack nailing with brads also works, along with brass screws so long as they are no were near the cutting area.
One additional thing is that in a discussion with Nick a long time back he mentioned that the shopsmith planner has a way of adjusting the spring pressure. That can also go a long way to help get the wood flat. My planner doesn't have that as an option. You might well want to check that issue on your machine. The rollers are very strong on a planer where when you go to a thickness sander the spring are much softer.... just a few more things to think about.
My first one is exactly like that one. I used it with P-Teks (sp?), to fill the bases of snow skis that found the rocks on the ski slopes. I remember pushing with my thumb and it getting very warm as I got closer to the rubber tube. Also remember the excitement of getting hot melted p-tex on my skin and the exciting accompanying blisters!
Reible
To hot glue plastics together I found I needed to stick the tip of the glue gun against the plastic to slightly melt it and then mix the plastic to the glue.
Worked every time for me. Fixed many plastic sprinkler head bases with the hot melt glue.
Also acetone will take the glue out of wood pore. Don't know why since acetone won't melt a glue stick but I have often worked glue off wood with acetone.
You are right hot melt glue is not invisible nor even pretty. But on things that you don't care about the looks it has some real purpose.
Thanks for all the info, guys. It was a huge help.
Based on all of the feedback, I just ordered one of these high-temperature guns from Amazon.
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It had great reviews and a deep discount.
I also ordered some high-temperature glue sticks to use when I need a strong bond, and some multi-temp glue sticks (which I assume will solidify at a lower temperature) for when I need a longer working time.
Thanks again!
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BuckeyeDennis wrote:Thanks for all the info, guys. It was a huge help.
Based on all of the feedback, I just ordered one of these high-temperature guns from Amazon.
[ATTACH]24087[/ATTACH]
It had great reviews and a deep discount.
I also ordered some high-temperature glue sticks to use when I need a strong bond, and some multi-temp glue sticks (which I assume will solidify at a lower temperature) for when I need a longer working time.
Thanks again!
The sticks also come in colors, clear, white, a yellow and I believe brown.
Also some harden to almost rigid plastic state while others are soft and even spongy. A drop of the good clear sticks can be hard to find on a piece of glass and will never be seen in water. The yellow tends to get lost on many of the lighter woods. The hard rigid plastic is good for repair of plastic and white is a great caulk and gap filler. The brown we had I once used to fill a gap in Iodized bronze aluminium framing, it was almost undetectable. But we only had one or two sticks and I haven't seen it since. I think it is sold more to the industrial market
Florist use a variety of them and my wife who is a florist has many different sticks.
