I've decided it's time I got one; no specific purpose in mind, just general DIY/maintenance purposes. Never used one before and know nothing about them other than they seem to vary dramatically in price (on Amazon from 3.50 GBP upwards).
What's the difference between them? Do they all use the same glue sticks? What do I need? :)
Thanks!
they vary dramatically in performance too. But I don't know what ones to recommend.
NT
Get one that takes standard sized sticks (most do these days). Better ones may have nicer triggers, and faster maximum delivery rates.
CPC do large packs of sticks for not much money.
Most use the same sticks but there are exceptions. You can get different composition sticks for different purposes. (I have had a rawlplug stick in the past - quite handy for very crumbly walls that tend to fall apart when you drill - just make a hole, pump full of gloop, and drive the screw in).
They are handy for some jobs - typically filling / sealing / bodging things together!
I also find mine very good for use in the workshop - sticking on templates for routing round, and for fitting drawer fronts and hinges etc (basically anything fiddly that needs to be positioned just right)
(a few spots of hot melt on the back of a drawer front for example will allow you to position it where you want it with a few seconds to slide it into place. Then hold it for 20 secs or so and it will be set well enough to allow you to move it into an easy place to work on it, and screw it on properly from the inside etc.
In message , snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com writes
I was given a glue gun at least 20 years ago, and shortly afterwards was building a frame for a ply board, 8 x 2 ft. Built the frame from 2 x 1 and thought I had found the perfect use for a glue gun. Ran a bead all around the frame and the cross pieces, by which time most of the first bead was cold and solid. The glue gun went to the back of a cupboard, where it has been, ever since.
I suppose I did something wrong, or used the wrong type of glue, but never bothered to find out. Went back to PVA.
Yeah, hot glue is fine for small things that can be assembled in a few seconds.
I realised that as I tried to chip off the set glue :-)
The "hot" part is fairly critical. IME if the excess doesn't blister the skin when the parts are pressed together, there is insufficient heat for the job in hand.
What makes the difference is thermostatic temp, diallable temp and max temp it can reach. The difference between a proper professional gun and hobby kit is huge.
NT
En el artículo , Graeme escribió:
It usually peels off really easily.
IME its rarely a usable replacement for PVA or many traditional glues. The open time is far too short for any kind of lengthy glue up (and lengthy is anything over a minute in this case).
Where it excels is when you want a quick bond to something and want it to set *now* - but need something with more tack and joint filling capacity than CA glue and accelerator.
So for example if you have a job to glue with PVA, then you can apply the PVA, but then at the very end use a few spots of hot melt to retain or clamp the joint. Its also good at non strength critical jobs that are fiddly to do with normal glues like fixing fabric to wood.
If you want to tack some wires out of the way in a box, hold the wire in place, splodge with hot glue, spray with freezer spray, and move onto the next.
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