[Specter]

I am working on casting some parts out of hot glue. It's working good- except, every 3/4 of a glue stick I have to stop for 10mins (or more) and wait for the glue to heat up and melt again. I have a 'high temperature' glue gun, and think it's decent... the problem comes in where the 1st layer of glue is meeting up with the next layer- since it's at least 10mins apart, the 1st layer dries quickly. Where the 2 layers meet up, it leaves a line/seam in between, causing some problems.

I've tried forcing the glue through faster, but it just trickles out a little bit, before completely stopping.

Are there CHEAP continuous flow type glue guns out there, possibly available at Michaels or Hobby Lobby? Any other inputs for me?

A continuous flow (don't even know if they make these) would be perfect- I could just keep pouring as much glue in as I need, as long as I can keep loading sticks... Ideas???

 

[Otaku]

I have a cheap Chicago Electric gun that I got at Harbor Freight. On the "high" setting it'll melt glue sticks as fast as I can feed them in. It's similar to this one:

- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

but the handle is yellow. I don't know if the one in the link has two temp settings.

 

[Specter]

REALLY.... Man, it looks soo cheap! Now- when you say it will go as fast as you can load it... can you make a big flood/puddle of hot glue, or does it come out somewhat slow to where it's just a steady, slow stream? I need it to FLOOD out as fast as I can load it... does that make sense?

 

[Specter]

ok, the gun I'm using is a 40 watt. I wonder if I got a 80 or 100+ watt if that would melt the blue faster? Anyone know for sure??

 

[ibjeepin]

ok, the gun I'm using is a 40 watt. I wonder if I got a 80 or 100+ watt if that would melt the blue faster? Anyone know for sure??

Yes you are generally looking for wattage for amount of lbs of glue per hour. If you look at minions web cobweb shooters the ones that can produce more are the larger wattage ones. The 200watt unit is an adhesive tech 200, and I just picked up a brand new one on ebay for 10 bucks. I used the same last year for webs that i bought and made and I never had to wait for sticks to heat.

 

[Specter]

That's the one I was looking for as well- the AdTech 200. You say it doesn't have to wait at all? The glue will just FLOW out? Or, is it more of a slow steady stream?

 

[HomeyDaClown]

Higher Wattage = Lower recovery time. 80 to 100 watts

 

[ibjeepin]

Higher Wattage = Lower recovery time. 80 to 100 watts

And can you explain this to me in a scientific manor?

It is absolutely the opposite. The higher the wattage the higher the recovery time for a given volume of material. So then if I use a 1 watt heat gun I could melt 100's of pounds per hour of glue? If I say 1/2 watt the maybe 1000's of pounds......

Sorry to sound crass but it does defy logic and thermodaynamics

Watts = Heat / BTU/hr period i cannot give you the exact formula but thats why I have engineers. For any given material, it takes so many btu to raise temperature of a fixed amount of material so many degrees.

 

[ibjeepin]

That's the one I was looking for as well- the AdTech 200. You say it doesn't have to wait at all? The glue will just FLOW out? Or, is it more of a slow steady stream?

Keep an eye out on ebay, they do come up, but not often. I did a saved search in ebay which notifies me when one comes up. 3M also sells the exact same version in red. I tried it along with the adtech one for cobwebs, it looked exactly the same with same speck but i thought it was not as good as the adtech in capacity. I could be wrong as its subjective and maybe it was just its color, red.

I got a second recently so this year I can be a 2 gunslinger!

 

[kprimm]

I went to the thrift store and got a cheap old pot and melted the glue sticks in that for making hands for props, works way better than any glue gun, at least for large things like hands.

 

[ibjeepin]

I went to the thrift store and got a cheap old pot and melted the glue sticks in that for making hands for props, works way better than any glue gun, at least for large things like hands.

That's an awesome idea! especially for specters issue, come to think of it I think I saw hot glue pots on ebay.......

 

[HomeyDaClown]

What??????????
Higher Wattage = less time to re-heat (recover) from heat loss

Is he not looking for a hot melt glue gun that he would not have to wait to re-heat (recover). Lower wattage glue guns tend to gag on the glue sticks because they cannot recover quick enough after transferring heat to the sticks.

If you check the web for DIY web shooter glue guns, they recommend higher wattage just for that reason. The more wattage you have in a heating element the faster the glue melts period.

Quote from Bostich:

The Bostik 81-G Thermogrip Glue Gun is a 100-watt thermostatically controlled hot melt glue gun offering 2 to 3 times faster warm-up and recovery times than most PTC-heated guns.


Another Higher Wattage Type:

TG-760 300-watt High Volume Glue Gun | Product ID= TG-760 | Star Packaging Supplies

 

[Specter]

Yeah, I think he just misunderstood what 'recovery time' meant...

I was TOTALLY thinking of just getting some pots, throwing the sticks in, and melting them that way! I think I still might do that, just for now, for this specific purpose...

Otherwise- anywhere LOCAL I could pick up a cheap, 100w or more glue gun? I'm not seeing any in local stores online...

 

[zacharybinx]

Or.. Keep the gun you have and get a heat gun (for Rubber stamping at Michael's) and reheat the first layer. Then apply the next layer. Just a thought...

 

[Specter]

hehe- did that... with a hair dryer... it actually worked well- except...

I was using Vaseline as a mold release. The Hair Dryer melted the Vaseline, which caused the glue to SEVERELY stick to my mold. Yeah, scraped up the mold trying to carve it all out of there. It was ugly... so, back to finding just a good glue gun that will handle the capacity I need. OR- just buy some old pots tomorrow, melt the sticks on the stove, and pour it in. Seems much easier that way, just much less precise. So, we'll see...

You always need a good glue gun anyways. Just wish there was something local and CHEAP...

 

[Specter]

FYI- this is the cheapest/best I can find online in the moment...
Ad-Tech HD-200 - Hot Melt Guns - Carpet and Rug Backing Supplies - Tools, Backing, Chemicals and Fans

 

[HomeyDaClown]

I got a couple of these for web guns:

Professional Electric 100W Hot Glue Blue Gun w/ Stick - eBay (item 250449701135 end time Jul-22-09 00:53:29 PDT)


But for an extra $10 I'd get the 250 watt Ad-Tech, 150 extra watts can't hurt.

 

[ibjeepin]

What??????????
Higher Wattage = less time to re-heat (recover) from heat loss

Is he not looking for a hot melt glue gun that he would not have to wait to re-heat (recover). Lower wattage glue guns tend to gag on the glue sticks because they cannot recover quick enough after transferring heat to the sticks.

If you check the web for DIY web shooter glue guns, they recommend higher wattage just for that reason. The more wattage you have in a heating element the faster the glue melts period.

Quote from Bostich:

The Bostik 81-G Thermogrip Glue Gun is a 100-watt thermostatically controlled hot melt glue gun offering 2 to 3 times faster warm-up and recovery times than most PTC-heated guns.


Another Higher Wattage Type:

TG-760 300-watt High Volume Glue Gun | Product ID= TG-760 | Star Packaging Supplies

OK you said " Higher Wattage = Lower recovery time. 80 to 100 watts "

I thought you meant "poorer" as in lower, but you mean reduced recovery time which is what I said. I recommended a 200 watt unit. But in light of what he wants to do a pot is best for casting.

I'm awake now

 

[TheEighthPlague]

I've also got the Chicago Electric one from Harbor Freight. Plus you can get a ton of glue sticks for dirt-cheap. I've never had a problem with waiting for the gun. I like the pot idea. Wonder if pseudo-wifey would mind?...yeah, she probably would.

 

[Baron Samedi]

What kind of mold are you using?
Here's what I'm thinking..You said the pot/stove method is good but less precise. So what I'm thinking is would it be practical to heat your mold a little, say in some hot water or even have it in a shallow bath of hot water while you poured in the molten glue? this may help to keep the glue liquid enough to ensure it filled all the mold cavities. Also, you may wish to try a spray or aerosol type cooking oil as a release agent as it's composition remains more stable than that of petroleum jelly when subjected to heat.
Just a thought.