Glue gun

[transatlantic]

I'm looking at buying the following glue gun. But there is quite the range of guns and glue sticks. What would you recommened for general wood work? (jigs, shop projects, etc)

https://www.gluegunsdirect.com/shop/tec ... -glue-gun/
https://www.gluegunsdirect.com/shop/glu ... odworking/

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I bought https://www.gluegunsdirect.com/shop/glu ... e-gun-kit/
I can't fault it for performance or value. There's some stuff in it I won't use for its intended purpose, but it'll all get used somewhere. They do some amazing offers on glue if you use a lot or know someone else with 12mm gun. Go through their literature, there's plenty of info on what glue is good for what.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I see they have 15mm sticks @ £12.50 per 5Kgs - it would be worth a club's while to buy a 15mm gun and 20kgs for £100ish.
https://www.gluegunsdirect.com/shop/cle ... l-purpose/

 

[rafezetter]

I seem to remember my last box of glue sticks I bought from Lidl - there was quite a few, maybe 30 (?), and longer than the ones that came with my dremel glue gun.

I didn't realise they weren't a standard size - noted.

 

[sunnybob]

I was given a really cheap hobby type glue gun that takes 9 mm sticks. i cant fault it.
Only specialist usage would justify an expensive one.

 

[transatlantic]

I was given a really cheap hobby type glue gun that takes 9 mm sticks. i cant fault it.
Only specialist usage would justify an expensive one.

It's only £20

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I had a Stanley one before - it failed - but the one you're looking at is much better, especially if you want a bit better throughput.

 

[sunnybob]

ONLY £20!
I think my daughter got change from a fiver when she bought mine.

 

[MikeG.]

Yeah, avoid the cheap crappy ones. They don't push the glue stick efficiently, and you can end up chucking away quite a lot of un-usable glue stick remnants.

 

[sunnybob]

Mine was so cheap they didnt even put a name on it. never wasted any glue either.

 

[Rorschach]

Guess it depends what you plan to glue, really. You mention jig and shop projects but are we talking temporary fixings or more permanent?

I researched Tec glue guns and yes they are well reviewed however when I though about my needs it really was just overkill for the work that I use a glue gun for and their 12mm sticks are not a common size and they only warranty for their own glue.

In the end I went with a really nice one from Lidl, if I recall it was about a tenner, it takes the very common 11mm sticks. I have been incredibly happy with it but of course that is for my kind of work which is almost always as a temporary clamp and other low impact applications.

 

[transatlantic]

Mine was so cheap they didnt even put a name on it. never wasted any glue either.

Good for you! .. glad you got a bargain, not very helpful though!

I tend to subscribe to the 'buy the best you can afford' moto. In this case, I can afford £20, so why skimp?

 

[OscarG]

Just to check, you use these things as a temp hold only?

Can they be used instead of double sided tape to temp attach templates etc?

 

[sunnybob]

My main use of the glue gun is to hold down strips of wood onto a kitchen tile so that I can use the sled mounted router make the pieces perfectly flat. Huge sideways strain on the pieces. Then afterwards just lift them off with a wide blade scraper.

You can glue pieces together to rout shapes, but be warned, the glue sticks so well you might have a problem seperating the pieces afterwards.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Any ideas? feel free to add - 101-uses-for-a-hot-melt-glue-gun-t100646-30.html

 

[whiskywill]

I tend to subscribe to the 'buy the best you can afford' moto. In this case, I can afford £20, so why skimp?

Buy a cheap one and send the change to a poor person, like me. :wink:

 

[scholar]

I bought a gas glue gun from the retailer you have found. This was after years of making do with a so-so corded electric gun from Screwfix. I would not trade the cordless gas gun for any corded model now - it is so much more convenient to use without being hitched to the power socket.

I can’t really fault it, although sometimes it takes quite a few clicks of the button to ignite.

Glue stick wise, I am still using up a big quantity I bought from Screwfix, I think, years ago. I got a mix of clear general glue sticks and some white ones for wood. TBH, I am not sure it makes a lot of difference for many applications, although I do tend to swap them over as required.

My main applications are:
- cardboard box construction, either for sending stuff (eg eBay sales) or for storing various workshop and other things around the house; eg I made a cardboard sectioned box for the belts for my large sander and modified some cardboard boxes (from the Wine Society!) for my bandsaw blades, etc etc

- making templates for eg alcove shelves, where I scribe a strip of say 6mm mdf to each side, then join in place with hot-glued corner pieces and cross braces if necessary - then you can use the template as a routing template, either hot-glued or clamped to the workpiece.

- yes, you can hot-glue a template to the workpiece for routing on the router table; it will hold more than enough, so use it sparingly, otherwise the template is hard work to remove.

Is the glue capable of being permanent? I imagine it is - none of my boxes have failed. The only thing to bear in mind with woodworking is that the glue tends to be fairly thick unless you bond it very quickly when very hot, so you can get a noticeable gap between the pieces being joined.

Hope that helps

Cheers

 

[transatlantic]

I bought a gas glue gun from the retailer you have found. This was after years of making do with a so-so corded electric gun from Screwfix. I would not trade the cordless gas gun for any corded model now - it is so much more convenient to use without being hitched to the power socket.

I can’t really fault it, although sometimes it takes quite a few clicks of the button to ignite.

Glue stick wise, I am still using up a big quantity I bought from Screwfix, I think, years ago. I got a mix of clear general glue sticks and some white ones for wood. TBH, I am not sure it makes a lot of difference for many applications, although I do tend to swap them over as required.

My main applications are:
- cardboard box construction, either for sending stuff (eg eBay sales) or for storing various workshop and other things around the house; eg I made a cardboard sectioned box for the belts for my large sander and modified some cardboard boxes (from the Wine Society!) for my bandsaw blades, etc etc

- making templates for eg alcove shelves, where I scribe a strip of say 6mm mdf to each side, then join in place with hot-glued corner pieces and cross braces if necessary - then you can use the template as a routing template, either hot-glued or clamped to the workpiece.

- yes, you can hot-glue a template to the workpiece for routing on the router table; it will hold more than enough, so use it sparingly, otherwise the template is hard work to remove.

Is the glue capable of being permanent? I imagine it is - none of my boxes have failed. The only thing to bear in mind with woodworking is that the glue tends to be fairly thick unless you bond it very quickly when very hot, so you can get a noticeable gap between the pieces being joined.

Hope that helps

Cheers

I was tempted by the gas one as I do like my cordless tools. I'll see how much I use this one first before making that investment.