Anderzander Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I seem to have accumulated a few jobs where on would be useful - bonding trim pieces and bits of wiring etc Are they much of a muchness ? They seem absurdly cheap on eBay .... But in my ignorance I don't know if it's worth finding a buying a better quality one. Any experiences welcomed ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yalan Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Have used a few at work. Not much in them at the DIY price bracket.... But when I had to replace recently I bought a Tacwise 202 (their domestic market one and 1/10 cost of their pro version). Very happy. Use loctite glue sticks. Excellent bond on most materials. I'd avoid the super cheapos ... Most faults Ive seen are on the feed ratchet mechanism Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally V8 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I've been "borrowing" the kids glue gun for a while,ended up buying one off Ebay for less than £5 with 10 glue sticks.Works a treat, I used it this afternoon to glue the wires into the bottom of an ABS modulator block on a TD5 90.(Fitting an ex DII block into the Defender to replace the original with a seized motor) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 You can get lots of different glue sticks for different jobs so watch what you buy. Also there are two sizes of gun and stick I recommend the larger diameter stick as that way you can get the longer (200mm) sticks so you don't change them so often. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I'd go for a better one over a cheap one.... My scout troop has lots for some of the more crafty things we do and the cheap ones aren't reliable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelw Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I have a budget cheapie, it does everything I need, used it last to glue the wires down on the centre fascia of the Disco when I modified it for led strips to replace the carp lamp arrangement from the 80s. Buy a good one and then go on to wonder what ever you did without it before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynic-al Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Just for sticking the odd bits just buy something cheap. If you want to use it a lot you need one with a better heat capacity and if it's big parts the ability to load a new glue stick before the last runs out. At home I have a cheap one and just use it for sticking wires and covering bits etc. At work I have a couple of tec 3200 that take the 43mm slugs. You can change the temperature depending on which glue your using. The low temperature for polystyrene and medium temperature for sticking plastic. You can have manual triggers or pneumatic and different nozzles for different spray patterns and you can use them all day without them getting too cold to work. I get them from a company Manchester way, glue guns direct is the website I think. They also do gas ones which I thought could be handy when working on cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 Thanks everyone - that's all really helpful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMB Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I've a couple - an old 3M and a cheapie from Lidl. I wouldn't be without them. The cheapie works fine as long as you keep an eye on it. Leave it heating too long between jobs and the glue stick starts to melt back into the ratchet feed mechanism, at which point it no longer feeds and you need to pull the stick out and clean the gun as it cools. 3M is quite an old one but better designed, it doesn't suffer from the same fault, but is quite low power, so difficult to get enough hot glue out fast enough if dealing with largish areas. You might need to experiment with glue sticks, I've got some which are supposedly designed for wood and others with a higher specifiic heat which is ideal for metals. Before I retired I used to borrow a professional one from work with controlled heat setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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