Which Glue Gun!

Grandfatman

New member
Hi guys

I've just bought my first speed build kit, and i was wondering if my glue gun will "cut it"

I've got a mini craft glue gun that takes 7mm sticks, to be fair to the little blighter, it glued my bix 3 back from being snapped in half.

I was wondering if it was worth the purchase of a full size glue gun to aid speed of delivery, or will i be just fine? (The one i have currently even has variable temperature)

Thanks guys!
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
I have used a mini craft glue gun for three years and have built some pretty big planes with it too. For anything where I need a lot of glue (like a big wing) I use White Gorilla Glue (lighter weight, stronger, and foams to fill gaps) and the mini hot glue gun to tack the wing into place so it stays put for the gorilla glue to cure.
 

JWExperience

New member
I just bought a surebonder dual temp from hobby lobby for $20 and so far I've built the cub and half the seaduck speed build kits. The gun has been great so far. the amount of glue that came with it was enough to build the simple cub.
 

checkerboardflyer

Well-known member
Not all mini glue guns and mini glue sticks are equal. When I was using my Aldi Workzone gun I needed to put in a new glue stick. I squeezed the trigger half way before any glue came out. Wasn’t sure what the problem was. What I discovered after taking some measurements and doing some research is that the Aldi gun takes 5/16″ (.31″) glue sticks and what I put in was a 9/32″ (.28″) glue stick. it doesn’t sound like much of a difference. But if you try to put the larger glue stick into a smaller glue gun, it won’t fit. And if you put the smaller stick into a larger gun not much glue will come out when you squeeze the trigger. My assumption was that all mini glue guns and glue sticks were the same. Not so. The point is that if you use a mini glue gun, just know what size it is so you buy the right size glue sticks. More tips at: https://foamboardflyers.com/
 

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jaredstrees

Well-known member
Dewalt glue gun from home depot has been my go to. Heat really quick and has enough oomph for long jobs.

I'm with Rockyboy though, the more I build the less hot glue I use. Most of my builds now are gorilla glue. But you can take advantage of hot glue and gorilla on the same plane. Since hot glue is so much heavier, sometimes I'll use it on the portion of the plane in front of the cg, and gorilla glue behind the cg. Since a lot of planes tend to be a built tail heavy, this usually alleviates the use of any extra weight to balance the plane.

Anyway you go, have fun!
 

CapnBry

Elite member
What I discovered after taking some measurements and doing some research is that the Aldi gun takes 5/16″ (.31″) glue sticks and what I put in was a 9/32″ (.28″) glue stick.
Oh snap, I bought some 10" long glue sticks after watching some of the FT videos and seeing them after previously using the smaller sticks all my life. When I pull the trigger now it takes about 1/4 of the trigger before glue starts coming out. Measuring one of my old sticks vs the new, my old sticks are slightly thicker! I thought all of these things took the same size sticks (apart from the super tiny models with the teensy sticks).

I've used a Surebonder DT-270 as my hot glue gun for probably 20 years now, which I bought at Micheals for under 10 bucks at the time. It is listed at 40W but takes an eon to heat up (5-10 minutes? Hard to say). I usually plug it into the power monitored outlet on my workbench and when it drops below 20W I know it will work perfectly for smaller joints. For gluing the wing where you need a lot of glue though, 13W or less is my key number. It bottoms out at 10W for "High Temp" or 5W for "Low Temp". Note that the power rating on all these things is the room temperature power draw, and as the heating element warm up it drops. Drops quickly at first (down to 25W in the first minute) but sllloowwwly as it approaches temperature. My DT-270 easily does any FT plane I've built so far.
 

donalson

Active member
adtech pro 80... $14 at walmart... also have one of the little ones... my wife used it for arts and crafts projects... was enough to build the triple pack (ft flyer, nutball, delta) and I also built a chuck glider of the sparrow with it... then I bought the big one and never looked back... the trigger makes it much more comfortable to use in my large hands.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
Dewalt glue gun from home depot has been my go to. Heat really quick and has enough oomph for long jobs.

I'm with Rockyboy though, the more I build the less hot glue I use. Most of my builds now are gorilla glue. But you can take advantage of hot glue and gorilla on the same plane. Since hot glue is so much heavier, sometimes I'll use it on the portion of the plane in front of the cg, and gorilla glue behind the cg. Since a lot of planes tend to be a built tail heavy, this usually alleviates the use of any extra weight to balance the plane.

Anyway you go, have fun!

I have the Dewalt as well, and that sucker is GREAT. Heats up well, lets me run nice, long, hot beads of glue. I have used it to build every one of my planes, from the Bushwacker to the Sea Duck to the Mini Twin Sparrow and more. I even used it to make 40 chuck gliders over a weekend during Maker Faire, in May. It is a WORKHORSE.

My dad bought an Adtech Pro from Joan Fabrics, when they had a 60% off coupon plus some other discount; made it like, $12, if I remember correctly.

That gun has a stand, dual temp, heats up quickly, plus it has interchangeable nozzles, to get into narrower spots and a flat tip to lay a thin, wide spread. Haven't tried the wide spread tip, but the long narrow nozzle works GREAT at getting into some of the tighter C folds of the fuselage. :)

I would recommend either one of these guns if you plan on doing more than 1 build. I've bought a couple of the mini guns for kids to use when building some of the chuck gliders, just because the bigger guns like my Dewalt or the Adtech pro are a little more unwieldy; the mini guns work ok, but they take time to heat up and aren't as good at maintaining temperatures as the bigger guns, I'm finding. Then again, I paid $1-$2 for those mini guns, so, I figure, "Hey, you get what you pay for, right?"
 

CapnBry

Elite member
For anything where I need a lot of glue (like a big wing) I use White Gorilla Glue (lighter weight, stronger, and foams to fill gaps) and the mini hot glue gun to tack the wing into place so it stays put for the gorilla glue to cure.
I've been wanting to make this transition as well but I can't quite wrap my head around how to mix the two. Do you just lay down a bead of gorilla glue as if it were hot glue, then follow it up with a couple dots of hot glue at the corners? Is there an FT video where they show off the technique? I tried it once and sort of ended up with almost the same amount of hot glue :(
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
I've been wanting to make this transition as well but I can't quite wrap my head around how to mix the two. Do you just lay down a bead of gorilla glue as if it were hot glue, then follow it up with a couple dots of hot glue at the corners? Is there an FT video where they show off the technique? I tried it once and sort of ended up with almost the same amount of hot glue :(

Pretty much exactly that!

For wings I put in a good bead of gorilla glue on the leading edge score lines and spars, and for long runs at the trailing edge I'll go for like 12" with the gorilla glue and then leave about a 2" gap for the hot glue dab. Then come back and hit all the 2" gaps I left on the trailing edge with hot glue and bend the wing over and hold like normal till it seats up.

For box fuselage parts I tend to run gorilla glue on the three edges that are already paper connected, and then do the 12" glue followed by a 2" hot glue gap, laying it out so the hot glue gaps are at the ends of the joint (to prevent messy squeeze out of foaming gorilla glue).

When I do my rebuild of my FT Simple Scout in a couple weeks I'll setup the camera and grab a video.
 

HilldaFlyer

Well-known member
Pretty much exactly that!

For wings I put in a good bead of gorilla glue on the leading edge score lines and spars, and for long runs at the trailing edge I'll go for like 12" with the gorilla glue and then leave about a 2" gap for the hot glue dab. Then come back and hit all the 2" gaps I left on the trailing edge with hot glue and bend the wing over and hold like normal till it seats up.

For box fuselage parts I tend to run gorilla glue on the three edges that are already paper connected, and then do the 12" glue followed by a 2" hot glue gap, laying it out so the hot glue gaps are at the ends of the joint (to prevent messy squeeze out of foaming gorilla glue).

When I do my rebuild of my FT Simple Scout in a couple weeks I'll setup the camera and grab a video.

I do the same thing - works like a charm!
 

donalson

Active member
Pretty much exactly that!

For wings I put in a good bead of gorilla glue on the leading edge score lines and spars, and for long runs at the trailing edge I'll go for like 12" with the gorilla glue and then leave about a 2" gap for the hot glue dab. Then come back and hit all the 2" gaps I left on the trailing edge with hot glue and bend the wing over and hold like normal till it seats up.

For box fuselage parts I tend to run gorilla glue on the three edges that are already paper connected, and then do the 12" glue followed by a 2" hot glue gap, laying it out so the hot glue gaps are at the ends of the joint (to prevent messy squeeze out of foaming gorilla glue).

When I do my rebuild of my FT Simple Scout in a couple weeks I'll setup the camera and grab a video.

I've only used it once to build with but I did similar... longer runs of gorilla glue and smaller run with hot glue expecially at the ends and a few center locations to keep an even pressure on the gorilla glue.
 

CapnBry

Elite member
Pretty much exactly that!
This is super-helpful, thanks! I was just having a hard time visualizing how much of each to work in and where and you've certainly spelled it out perfectly. When I wreck one of the two planes I have up and running right now (should be this week :eek:) I'm going to try a Sportster with this technique.
 

PoorManRC

Master member
THAT'S something I NEED TO DO as well. I'm also stuck with a "little kid" Glue Gun..... Unless someone has a decent big Gun that they don't need....... :p:whistle:
 

Antioch

Member
I used an older one to start...went to a Stanley & then changed the nozzle to get more out when I needed it. Also find the two finger trigger a bit of a bother some times. Will be experimenting with GG or white glue a bit later too.... but a good part of the trick seems to be able to get enough glue out when you need it...before the first batch starts to dry..
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
I use the cheap white one from Wal-Mart, the dual temp one. The hot is to hot, it will boil the glue, and the low is not hot enough. So I put in on high and made a light dimer switch. Now to start from cold, I can turn the dimmer all the way up. When it gets hot, I can just dial in the perfect temp.
 

w1lp33

Active member
Adtech pro 80. Runs like $20, and easily pumps out enough glue and heat. Also have a small xt60 portable hot glue gun for field repairs.
 

d8veh

Elite member
I use a Ragnaros 60w glue gun. You can get them from Amazon with a massive pack of glue sticks for not very much. it's fairly consistent in the way it delivers the glue and it can just about do a run down a medium sized wing with one squeeze of the trigger.

I tried one of the big white and orange ones (generic Chinese under various names) with adjustable temperature before that, but it wasn't very good. It leaked glue out the back, which then cooled and jammed it, plus, the temperature control didn't seem to work very well. It was always too hot if you left it for a while without using it.