Glue Guns and hot melt adhesives

Glue Guns are the mainstay of he DIYer, the Crafter and people who just need to stick things together easily!

They make hundreds of projects possible that would otherwise have you scratching your head, working with paper, wood, metal, fabric materials just about anything really. They are cheap for a basic starter model, normally only a few dollars and glue stick refill packs are readily available for about the same price.

Glue Guns come in all shapes and sizes from tiny hand held mini-guns to quite substantial industrial units. The glue is very versatile and surprisingly strong. For those of a more artistic persuasion you can even get colored and glitter glues!

How do Glue Guns work?

A Glue Gun is really a very simple device. Inside the hand held gun there is a heating element which melts the glue. The glue then flows out of the nozzle as a liquid for you to apply. Most glue guns are mains powered but you can get battery operated ones if you need to work away from a power supply.

High or Low Temperature Glue Gun

Most of the low cost Glue Guns on the market are low temperature, and work at about 250deg. They are the sensible choice for craft working with delicate materials or if you are working with Children.

High termperature Glue Guns operate at around 375deg and are more suited to heavy duty work for DIY like bonding wood and metals. They do tend to be more expensive though. There are some dual temperature Glue Guns on the market and are well worth a look if you are going to make regular use of one.

Manual or Trigger feed?

Another thing you might have to consider is whether you want a manual feed, or trigger fed Glue Gun. With manual feed you simply push the glue through the gun with your thumb, there is very little to go wrong as they are so simple. Trigger fed Glue Guns offer a lot more control as you can operate them with just one finger, and are the more popular choice even if they do tend to cost a tiny bit more.

Uses

The uses of a glue gun are literally limitless, but just to give you some ideas you could use one for:

Re-upholstering chairs Silk and dried-flower crafts Holiday decorations Fancy dress costumes Home repairs with wood, metal, ceramics, brick or just about any other material.

Glue Gun Safety

Remember, the glue from a Glue Gun can be very hot, although it dries quickly you must always be careful when handling one.

Glue can sometimes ooze from the nozzle of a glue gun even after you have finished pushing the stick or squeezing the trigger. When you put the gun down make sure there is something under the nozzle like a sheet of paper or card to protect the surface.