Hot Melt Glue Guns

[Greg Portland]

Glue guns! What is everyone using for their hot melt glue applications? I have had bad luck with both the gun and adhesive and am looking for recommendations. Typically the glue instantly solidifies on the surface and I am unable to get an even bond.

[Dave Lehnert]

I have a cordless glue gun.
Hot melt glue, in my opinion, is not much help in woodworking. Hot melt glue just sits on the service. Does not soak in like a yellow woodworking glue.
Good only to tack things like felt lining in a jewelry box or the like.

[Brian Backner]

Hot melt glue guns can actually do a good job in woodworking, but you have to go with some serious, corded ones. Don't have a link handy, but 3M sells some guns that are upwards of 400 watts that can feed something like 10# an hour of 11" long by 5/8" diameter glue sticks. They look like something out of StarWars and have prices to match.

There are multiple industrial grades of glue sticks and you usually have to buy them in case lots - 10 to 25#.

Brian
Taxachusetts

[Greg Portland]

Thanks guys, I'm considering something like this:

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2004007/9041/HiPURformer-Glue-Gun-Kit.aspx

Corded is fine but I want to bond dissimilar materials and have a reasonable open time (45 seconds or more).

[Greg Portland]

Has anyone used the linked product or other options? This would be used for quick and dirty jigs and projects, not fine WWing.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Removed - see below

[Dan Hintz]

A residential electrician using a glue gun in his work? That's a scary thought... can't think of any place useful to use it that would still meet code...

[Rick Lizek]

Regular hotmelt glue has a place. To get a better bond preheat the surfaces with an iron or heat gun. One use is for quick mock ups.

[Peter Quinn]

Its great for gluing plywood drawer bottoms in place so they wont rattle (just a little bead in the bottom corners does wonders), and assembling complex template shapes from small strips of 1/4" mdf. I've used it to template irregular door openings on old work to make scribing a new door to an old opening easier. I'm using whatever basic hot melt glue gun my local true value sells. At work we have a 3M, and it heats and flows faster, but the glue is the same stuff AFAICT. One nice thing about regular hot melt is that it can be undone, so you could hot melt small parts to a larger piece of stock and pass them by a router or perhaps shaper, then heat them with a heat gun and release.

I saw a demo of that hi-pur system at my local lumber yard, and that is a whole different thing. That is a quick, permanent strong bond for a variety of materials, and its pretty expensive. They were using it to glue casings and outside crown miters, even face frame joints. Very strong, short clamp times. I don't use it because I'm cheap and not in a rush, but its a cool system.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Removed - see below

[Paul McGaha]

I'm thinking the electrician is using the glue to glue a plastic electrical box to wooden studs in residental construction.The boxes are ususally nailed to studs and come with nails included but sometimes if two studs are very close together its hard to drive the nails. He's probably removing the nails and using the hot melt glue.

PHM

[Dan Hintz]

I'm thinking the electrician is using the glue to glue a plastic electrical box to wooden studs in residental construction.
A very good possibility, and one I wouldn't have minded using on several remodel jobs... I can't think of anything in the NEC that would specifically forbid such a mount, but then I'm no code expert.

The first thing that came to mind was some sparky gluing wires to 2x4s a few inches from the box instead of stapling, and I'm pretty sure code is a little more specific on that one (though I question the specificity at the moment).

[Rich Engelhardt]

For what ever reason, some chose to interpert earlier comments I made as inferring one of the oldest and most respected businesses in the area would perform shoddy work or work that's not up to code.

That's not the case at all.

Their work and business ethic is above reproach.

[Dan Hintz]

Rich,

Paul had some good suggestions on where the glue gun might be used, solving a difficult problem with a minimum of mess/fuss and staying within code. Do you know how it is being used?

[Paul McGaha]

Rich,

My post was not meant to be negative in any way nor to offend anyone.

I'm an electrician by trade and I am just taking a guess at what they might be doing with the hot melt glue.

I've done similar things to get boxes mounted in difficult situations.

PHM

[Greg Portland]

Rick L, thanks for the tips r.e. heating the surface. Ideally I'd like to skip that step... the goal here is quick adhesion with minimal fuss. As you mentioned, I'm going to be using this for quick mock ups, jigs, and quick projects (brad nailer + hot poly glue). My understanding is that -real- polyurethane hot glue results in a very strong bond. I am looking @ systems that use that type of adhesive (I linked to an option @ Woodcraft earlier).

Any other thoughts or product links? The other option would be a stick-type gun like this: http://www.amazon.com/3M-Polygun-TC-Applicator/dp/B0002YKC6G/ref=pd_ts_hg_18?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden

[Joe Chritz]

I have the linked system and other than the cartridges being expensive and short shelf life after first use it does a very good job.

On wood to wood joints it seems to be as strong as anything else.

I use it for installing moulding and applied end panels.

Joe

[Steve Peterson]

It also melts at a reasonably low temperature.

I knew a group of students in college that was building a small robot using hot glue to hold panels together for their chassis. They used to carry it back and forth between home and school. One student left it in the trunk and came back with a pile of loose panels and a puddle of glue.

I try to only use it for temporary repairs.

Steve

[Steve Griffin]

Thanks guys, I'm considering something like this:

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2004007/9041/HiPURformer-Glue-Gun-Kit.aspx

Corded is fine but I want to bond dissimilar materials and have a reasonable open time (45 seconds or more).


This is one of my all time favorite tools.

I use it only occasionally, but when I need it, it is worth it's weight in gold.

It doesn't take much imagination to see the applications for an epoxy strength joint in 60seconds. I use it to apply moldings and trim to cabinets, sometimes using a pin nailer to hold things in place until the glue sets. I've even used it to join two angled cabinets with open wine shelves which I simply couldn't use visible fasteners.

Recently I used it for our addition, putting up swanstone shower surround. I used silicone as the primary adhesive, but used a few dabs of hot polyurethane glue to hold things in place until the silicone dried. Saved a matrix of 2x4 bracing and horsing around.

Ok, thats the good stuff. The bad stuff is that the gun itself is an piece of junk--flimsy plastic with parts breaking with normal use. Mine is 2 years old and I need to replace it. Also, the cartridges are spendy, and have a limited shelf life.

I've used it as well for repairs. When I was in the middle of a big job with the belt sander, a funky plastic fitting broke for the air supply. I glued it and held it together for 1 minute, and waited about a 1/2 hour and I was back in business. The $7 cartridge seems pretty cheap when it saves the day like that.

-Steve

[Jonathan Link]

I don't have a jointer (yet?). I haven't built a permanent planer sled for face jointing, yet, either.
To face joint stock, I've been using hot glue and shims onto an already jointed piece. I shim it so the piece does't rock, hot glue shims to the piece being face jointed then to the reference piece. When flat, I use a hair dryer and plastic putty knife to remove the glue.
So, while I didn't use it in the final product, it gave me a quick and dirty way to get by without a jointer, and I'll continue to use it until I build a couple of dedicated planer sleds of differing lengths.

[Greg Portland]

Steve G. & Joe, how much glue comes in one cartridge? I'm trying to get an idea of how far $7 worth of glue will take me.


Hot glue has its uses, It also melts at a reasonably low temperature.Steve P, that is the case for the cheap hobby-style stick glue but this is heat activated polyurethane (supposedly as strong as epoxy). I believe you can also get 'sticks' for the commercial machines that produce a strong bond.

[Joe Chritz]

Seems like they say 72 feet of 1/8th inch bead.

It seems about right but I haven't ever run out 1/8th in bead over and over to test it.

Shelf life it going to be the enemy unless you use it a lot. A month is about all once it has been heated once.

Joe

[Ben Abate]

I have to agree with Steve, the gun is junk and once you open a cartridge it becomes pretty useless. Well maybe not useless but once it cools down and you come back later to try to heat it back up the gun has a hard time pushing it out of the tip. I've had this gun for at least 5 plus years and rearly use it because it's a pain. There has to be a better system. Or at least a better gun.....

[Jay Allen]

This 3M PolyGun (http://www.hillas.com/Products/3M_Polygun_Applicators/3M_PG_LT_QC_PT.asp)is the one I have and use at work nearly every day. It stands up to commercial use and has for several years.
I use it for several of the mentioned reasons, drawer bottoms, temporary attachments, etc.
There is a higer temp verson, with different glue, but it is very expensive.