Them hot glue guns

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

how good are they at glueing stuff in general?

The sticks are 1.99GBP for 32 at aldi but was thinking of buying the gun as well.

[Geo]

Ok for "craft" stuff or bodgng broken 3.5mm jack bodies (run over by rougue computer chair) Don't get a low wattage device - you will wait for ever for it to heat up and even araldite would have set by then...

Geo

[Jonathan Schneider]

Nothing like as good as proper glue but so easy and it doesn't take long to try out then maybe peel the stuff off again to do the job some other way. Just buy one. Really.

I have seen low temperature ones but think they're probably a bad idea as they're nearer to melting.

Though my car failed its MOT on brake disks earlier, my bodging of some accident damage in the wing round the indicator housing using some wire and a whole glue stick worked beautifully.

Jon

[Ian Stirling]

For quick jobs, I find a blowtorch or a lighter + glue stick works well. Rotate the stick, while heating the end gently.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

To be perfectly honest I've not found them much use - can't take damp. Might be ok for kiddies arts and crafts, though. Older kiddies, obviously.

[EricP]

Buy the sticks at Aldi but leave the guns there, they are absolute crap.

You have to pay for a good glue gun and as has been said, they have very limited use, due to the small quantity of glue and the quick set time.

The melting the sticks in a flame seems novel and I will be looking at that one soon. :))

[Weatherlawyer]

How about using a glue pot and kettle? One can still get glue made of animal bones. It behaves similarly. I quite like the smell of it but have never used it. Nor would I use glue sticks.

Modern adhesives are stronger than the interwoven fibre of wood. Why use a mere gum instead?

[Ian Stirling]

Hot melt has some advantages. It comes in a nice stick.

Hold it over a flame, while rotating, and you've got usable glue in 5-10 seconds.

[Guy King]

The message from "The3rd Earl Of Derby" contains these words:

Absolutely marvellous for doing junk modelling with the kids [1] 'cos unlike all the other glues they use, like PVA, it sets in a few seconds and you can pile more and more bits up making wonderful encrusted spaceports/fairy castles with all sorts of whimsies.

[1] Not actually using the kids as part of the junk, of course. No - wouldn't do that. Though there are times I'd like to glue them to the wall.

[Dave Fawthrop]

|how good are they at glueing stuff in general? | |The sticks are 1.99GBP for 32 at aldi but was thinking of buying the gun as |well.

June uses ours regularly, and I have strict instruction to find some more

*cheap* sticks.

Great for paper, cardboard and crafty projects, Terrible for *real* work, wood, metal, ceramic etc. etc

[Ian Stirling]

It depends.

Done right, it can be moderately good with wood. You tend to need to preheat large joints with a hot air gun, and then slop on a large amount of glue.

Blowtorch + stick can melt quite a large amount of glue fast.

Clamp for a couple of minutes, and you've got a moderately strong joint.

Nowhere near as strong as 'proper' glue - but sometimes you don't need proper glues strength, and setting in a couple of mins or under can be very handy. It can be handy to assemble something temporarily before adding screws.

It's also good as a reversible fixing. I've used it to mount stuff to metal walls, where I diddn't have permission to drill. Heat the area with a hot-air gun, flood with glue, attach bracket, allow to cool. When you want to remove, hot-air gun again, toilet paper + white spirit to cleanup, and there is absolutely no trace remaining.

Not to mention using this to hold awkward stuff while sawing/filing/... on it, when it's not really possible to hold easily in other ways.

Similar idea works for glass. (beware the temperature coefficient)

And of course, it's an ideal 'bodge' material.

[Mark]

Cant comment on the Aldi one, but hot glue sticks come in a range from soft to hard when set. Which can make a big difference depending on what the application is. FWIW I use a hard stick for making up battery packs, just like the OEM do.

-

[Andy Dingley]

They're the best bodging tool ever made. You should probably have one.

If it'll stick, then stick it. If it won't stick, then glue gun it.

[Frank Erskine]

I've never ever found them any good. I once bought one from a regional-type barn (Dickens), and never tried it for ages, by which time the barn had been taken over by B&Q. When I did try it, it would hardly melt the glue stick (of the correct type (no, I wasn't trying a car-washing shampoo stick)!), although it did seem to get hottish. I (foolishly?) bought another, never used it, and haven't a clue where it is now...

I think I'd rather use an appropriate "proper" glue/filler/whatever. Even cyanoacrylate "superglue" has its uses - as a repairer for skin cuts/burst blisters :-)

[Tony Williams]

OK for paper, card and permeable fabrics. Can (sort of) glue softwood if a hot air gun is used to keep it runny long enough to soak in. Useful for gap filling, and sealing the end grain of exposed timber, again with a hot air gun to keep it runny.

[The Medway Handyman]

25 people have been found stuck to the ceiling of a train in Dublin. Police believe Islamic terrorists have detonated the first ever no more nails bomb.

[Steve Walker]

[Chris Hodges]

I've found them very good at sticking foam rubber to wood in the damp (glue guns that is).

[Ian White]

"Can't take damp"? What kind of glue and what kind of usage did you have in mind?

The ordinary translucent material is an excellent outdoor sealant - I've used it for years on radio aerials, with zero failures. The surface gets a bit dull, but unlike many other sealants there are no serious signs of cracking, lifting or water creepage.

A very good application is a shot of hmg into the top end of semi-airspaced TV coax, to prevent it from becoming a pipeline for condensed water vapour. (Don't worry, its RF properties are excellent.)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I tried it for repairing a car door trim panel. Made out of moulded fibreboard. Had various bits glued to the inside - ventilation ducting etc. Looked like it was originally a hot melt glue used. So used the same. And it didn't last long. Epoxy resin did the trick, though.