Thread: Hot melt glue

Hot glue guns are great for craft and holding peg board hooks in but I would love to hear of other uses as I have one as well and apart from the two above uses don't use it for anything else.


The trouble with life is there's no background music.

I've used HMG to bond small timber pieces to templates so they could be routed on the router table with a patten following bit. I've done this for years & never had a problem.

MajorPanic,
do you ever run into staining problems with the glue ?

Originally Posted by MajorPanic

I've used HMG to bond small timber pieces to templates so they could be routed on the router table with a patten following bit. I've done this for years & never had a problem.

Major that's my point, everybody else seems to be able to get it to work. True to form Knucklehead is struggling.

Do you use a particular type of glue? I think the sticks I have may be junk.

Make sure the glue is REALLY hot before squeezing out. if you are too impatient it wont be at most liquid state. Then go like hell if you have a lot to do.

Yep - wot cagey said...

Wait till it's real hot. I don't think it matters on the type of glue sticks - I use the cheapest brand I can get from bunnings. In terms of other uses...

1. Use to glue cork clamping blocks to clamps (done this for ages)
2. Use for building mock ups / models etc
3. Use in conjunction with yellow glue to provide temporary hold whhilst yellow glue sets (thanks FWW)
4. Use for gluing together some plastics (the heat from the gun melts some plastics too...
5. Use to secure items to scrap to enable routing sawing etc with greater safety
6. Can also use as type of sealant, where waterproof seal is needed...

Just some alternative uses to start you off with. The humble old glue gun can do some amazing things - and quickly too....

See ya'll

Chris

The uses that Chris has mentioned as well as turning and heaps more. I did a multicentre project at the beginning of the month with some turning students where the blank, 175 square by 50 mm thick, was hot melt glued onto a 25 mm piece of MDF with an 85 mm diameter. This MDF disk was mounted on the screw chuck in 3 different centres all being 30 mm offcentre as well as one centre position. The lathes were walking all over the floor, 5 of them, but not one blank came off. I have used nany brands of hotmelt with varying success, but since I use the 300 mm hotmelt glue sticks that Carbatec Perth sells for about $1-10 each I have never had a blank come off. They seem to import these themselves as they usually have a huge box full of them. They have a very similar looking stick for about $5-00 for 12, but it is nowhere as good for turning. The stuff that you get with the glue gun is OK for glueing paper only!

The technique I use is: Get the glue really hot.......the gun needs about 10 minutes to melt some glue further back than the tip, otherwise the glue sets very quickly after application. At the right temperature the glue is crystal clear and almost as thin as water. When gluing a circle onto a blank, run a bead of glue close to the edge of the circle. There is no point in glueing on the centre as it will just twist off. Work fast and press the 2 bits
you are glueing together as tight as possible. Thick bits of hotmelt has no strength. It doesn't penetrate the substrate but the strength lies in a thin layer over as big an area as possible and the further from the center the better. Make shure that the fit between the two areas you want to bond is good.
It is good for primary holding of blanks onto a sacrificial piece of wood, although I use mainly MDF for the blocks. If you have finished turning a project and it is polished with a good wax or Shellawax, the project can be hotmelt glued onto a faceplate to buff, turn the base, spigott or recess off. Once it is done, just use a hammer and a chisel, parallel to the face of the face plate ( metal or wood or MDF ) and wedge it between the glue and plate to get the project off.( The layer of glue protects the project from being marked by the chisel). Then simply peel the hotmelt off the polished surface with your fingers...........as easy as 1,2,3 ! I glue ceramic tiles onto wood with hotmelt. If you want to remove the tile, just heat the tile slowly with a hot air gun, or SWMBO's hairdryer, the glue will soften and you can remove the tile. Handy to remove metal bits that have been hotmelted.
That sloppy jam chuck you made.........stick the project in with hotmelt. Works well as a sealer but not for things like acetone or thinners. On wood, the above can be used to remove traces of hotmelt.
I use it instead of the brown paper glue joint for inside-out turning, square bowls etc etc, wherever I dont want a permanent bond. Glue a screw onto a screwdriver or a nut into a socket if you want to install it in hard to get places.
Good quality hotmelt is magic stuff, just let your imagination run and give it a go. The secret is in covering the largest area possible ( within reason ) and applying pressure to squeeze as much of the glue out as possible, remember it holds on the surface only and does not penetrate! I start turning the blanks within 2 minutes of glueing them onto the disc.
Keep the hot stuff away from fingers, skin etc because it is a very painful burn and blisters develop almost immediately.
If you get a new supply, test it before you trust it.........for that reason I only buy my supply from the mentioned supplier in Perth.
Hope you guys & girls find these notes useful.

Originally Posted by knucklehead

Major that's my point, everybody else seems to be able to get it to work. True to form Knucklehead is struggling.

Do you use a particular type of glue? I think the sticks I have may be junk.

I don't know Knucklehead,

When I bought the gun years ago I also bought a box of glue sticks. These have lasted me for a number of years.
As I recall it is a Bostich gun & the glue sticks were also Bostich.
Sorry I can't be more help.

Joe

That's one of the most useful posts I've read for a while. I'm not a woodturner but your advice on how hot melt glue works etc has got me thinking. That old glue gun has been lying unused in the shed for a while. Now I can find several different uses for it! Thanks. I've sent you a greenie in the usual way!

Col

Make sure you get the sticks with a slightly yellowish tinge to them they are much better than the whitish ones that feel more like silicone and are better for sealing tasks rather than adhesive.
I found it is invaluable for mounting straight edges for tiling where you cannot screw because of w/p membranes.

CHeers
Michael

Thanks, guys I think we are on to something.
Gatieps description of what the glue should look like tells me that my gun is just not getting hot enough. Also the glue sticks I am using are probably not the best.
So its off to buy a decent glue gun (Bosctich) and some of the Carbatec glue sticks. That should well and truly have it sorted.

Darn another tool that needs buying, you guys will send my broke!

I find hotmelt is great for making sure that mirrors don't float around inside a rebated picture frame. A right angled bead in the gaps at the corners, and a small bead in the middle.


Cheers,


Justin.

As Driver said!

There is a glue gun somewhere in my shed, it is just a matter of finding it and getting some sticks for it.

I thought they were mainly used in craft applications.

Tim

Originally Posted by Ashore

Hot glue guns are great for craft and holding peg board hooks in but I would love to hear of other uses as I have one as well and apart from the two above uses don't use it for anything else.


The trouble with life is there's no background music.

HMG works very well for securing drawer fronts on kitchen and bath cabinets and then screwed from the back. When the glue is nice and hot it gives me a enough time to move the drawer front into just the right position before it cools. If you have a large kitchen job with lots of drawers it makes the job go much quicker and easier.