Hot Glue Guns

[Cursitor Doom]

Gentlemen,

What can these things do that regular gluing techniques can't? Just curious....

CD

[alan_m]

no

[Cursitor Doom]

So they're just a gimmick then? Thought so.

[Dave Plowman (News]

They are handy in that the glue doesn't go off with storage. Unlike every other type I have, after part used.

[Richard]

+1 Also gives almost instant bond.

[Jimk]

Burn your fingers

[Martin Brown]

Rapid high tack strong waterproof bond. You can get that with other glues too but it is convenient, fast and the glue sticks don't go off with age (well they might on a geological timescale).

[Tim Lamb]

In message [e-mail]>, "Dave Plowman (News)" [e-mail]> writes

And annoying that the glue sticks intended for different purposes appear identical, easily mixed up and require you to remember the last job! Other than that, very useful.

>

[williamwright]

Never let a child use one. The burns can be awful.

Bill

[williamwright]

Or a child-like adult. It still hertz.

Bill

[Jimk]

They use them at the local junior!

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

Dave Plowman (News) explained on 18/10/2020 :

If what you are glueing will not be damaged by heat, you can reheat them to adjust after it has cooled/set up.

[The Natural Philosopher]

In my model aircraft hobby they are excellent for gluing servos and other electronic bits in - they dont come off but can be levered off with some force. They are excellent for gluing crashed foam aircraft back together - hot glue is stringer than foam

Not a bad glue for large areas of plastic either.

The glue is fast and gap filling and tacks to almost anything but its not strong.

[Tim Streater]

What d'ye mean by "regular gluing techniques"?

[misterroy]

After you have bought an angle grinder, the glue gun is the next purchase.

1001 uses. Today I used my fancy, new to me, industrial glue gun to make a fishbox watertight.

[Roger Mills]

The main advantage from my point of view is that the glue sets and makes a firm bond as soon as it cools a bit - so you only have to hold the components in place for a few seconds.

[Bob Eager]

While the excess glue cools on your skin...

[John Rumm]

Set in 20 seconds, and form a strong bond that can be separated relatively easily if required[1].

So when gluing paper / card etc or fabric to timber, you can glue and move on very quickly.

Also massively useful in a workshop I find, for things like fixing drawer fronts - a dab of hot melt at each end - push it into the right place and hold for a few secs, you can now remove/open the draw and drill / screw though without risk of the position slipping. Or just fixing a template to something before marking or routing round it. Same when fixing hinges on boxes - a dab of glue to allow you to position, but then open the hinge while it stays in place so you can mark / screw etc.

(hot paint scraper slid between parts, or freezer spay and a sharp tap)

[John Rumm]

Yup good for bodging stuff together when there are gaps (and perhaps bits missing) - you can use the much like you might use a welder - the glue behaves as both glue and filler material.

[newshound]

Also you can "pot" electrical connections, e.g. if you have floppy mains wires. You can do this to "make safe" cracked bits of rigid plastic that are holding conductors in things like switches. Also for exclusion of moisture. You need some undamaged surrounding material to provide the containment and overall strength.

I think the last thing I did this on was a slow cooker where some of the the switch lugs had cracked so that it wanted to come out of the main body.