Glue Gun Recommendations?

[flogger7]

What kind of glue gun do you use? Do you like it?

My older surebonder cordless died (ok, it didn't die, i left it plugged in overnight and it burned the glue inside with seemingly no way to fix)...and my cheap one from Michaels' crafts stinks.

Anyone have recommendations on decent $20 ones, or on higher end adjustable temp models that you really like?

Thx

[beeiilll]

You can find pretty good deals on guns from the big box hardware stores like Lowe's. Home Depot, and etc., but be wary of using hot glue for your projects as no company out there will recommend using the hot melt adhesive with outside items or more specifically for any form of electrical connections.

I bought a nice two heat setting trigger gun at an ACE hardware store for $20.00 that works fairly well for me to use to test out various hot melt adhesives from a bunch of manufacturers.

I am running some tests on various sealants like hot melt, silicone caulk, liquid electric tape, and a couple others for use with RGB lights and the animated lighting work that we do.

So far I have not found even one company that will recommend the use of hot melt adhesive for this hobby.

Just so you know. I am not trying to steer anyone from using it, just getting the information together to put out a list of the better useable adhesives, sealants, and insulating materials for using with this hobby.

[flogger7]

Thanks. I've been watching your updates on the sealant test.

What make/model gun did you get from ACE?

Anyone out there have experience with a fancy one like David from Holiday Coro has? (it shows up on occasion in his various videos)

[beeiilll]

The one I got is a Surebonder, model DT-280. It works fine for me and seems like it will last a long time as well as it has an 8 foot cord on it.

The one David uses is an HG-305 from Hot Stick Adhesives: http://www.hot-stick.com/glue-guns/industrial-duty/hg-305k-glue-gun-kit.html

A nice gun for sure, but at $125 it is more than I can ever see using personally. Of course it is an industrial gun and high quality which means the price. Like everything you get what you pay for and it is a very nice gun and I am sure that it would be great for anyone who uses a lot of hot melt adhesive like David does.

Bill

[Greg Young]

I agree with Bill. A good 2 temperature hot glue gun is useful. I use it for joining coro, etc.

I would never use hot glue for sealing anything electrical, especially the ends of pixels that you have paid $$$$ for. Use liquid tape, shoe goo, silicone, or an epoxy.