$8.63
DESCRIPTION-> Click "Learn more about this item" for article & instructions!
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This is hot melt glue in pellet form. Its physical properties are the same as hot melt glue sticks of its polymer type, just the application method is different. This particular hot melt is the versatile "dual temperature" kind. It can be used at low temperatures (around 225F to 250F) or high temperatures (around 325F to 350F). It is a harder glue when cool than the typical whitish translucent/transparent hot melt glue sticks that are the most common hot melt glue in existence and can be found everywhere.
Hot melt glue has been around for decades now but has come a long way. There are a great many choices in the polymers that the glue is made of, and thus a great many choices in application and physical properties of the glue types available. There is an excellent article on hot melt glues at Wikipedia: { https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot-melt_adhesive }, here is a brief excerpt:
"...hot melt adhesives provide several advantages over solvent-based adhesives. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are reduced or eliminated, and the drying or curing step is eliminated. Hot melt adhesives have long shelf life and usually can be disposed of without special precautions. Some of the disadvantages involve thermal load of the substrate, limiting use to substrates not sensitive to higher temperatures, and loss of bond strength at higher temperatures..."
The "bulk" hot melt pellets in this listing are put into a shallow heated container called a ""glue pot" or a "skillet" and melted. The glue itself is sometimes called "skillet glue". Objects to be glued are dipped into the melted glue in the skillet (either one or both objects), removed, and held together until the glue joint is cool enough for the objects to be self-supporting. The advantage of this method over a hot melt glue gun is that it allows leaving both your hands free to manipulate the positioning of glued objects more accurately while the glue is cooling. Another advantage is that you can hold objects into the molten glue for a varying time period. Keeping them in the hot glue for a longer time allows the objects themselves to heat up so the glue will stay molten long enough to allow complex positioning or positioning of materials that tend to cool the glue too fast, such as metals.
Disadvantages of the skillet method are pretty obvious. If large surfaces need to be glued and the glue pot is too small, you'd have to get out the glue gun.
Generally this method is useful for thinner objects that have enough length to be held at one end while the other end is dipped into the glue skillet. Flower stems are an ideal candidate for this method of gluing.
There are larger and more expensive ones available in online stores. Whichever one you buy, make sure you know the actual dimensions. Like the one in this listing, most that you see for $10 to $20 are about 4" in diameter, small and simple with no heat adjustment or on/off switch. That configuration keeps them inexpensive. Plug it into a power strip if you want a switch. A good idea is to check the reviews for the inexpensive ones on amazon. Some don't get very high ratings. If you need a larger skillet/hot pot there are several that are about 6" in diameter (or square). Make sure you find the written dimensions to ensure it's large enough, they all look about the same size in photos. You can also find small electric kitchen skillets that might work if they have an adjustable temperature knob. The venerable Sunbeam skillets from years ago would be too large, but there are smaller 6" or 7" kitchen electric skillets (Toastmaster made one) available at auction sites, and if you have a thrift store in your area they often have them. For a new one, amazon and others carry them and other combination electric kettles and cookers. Whatever you get does need to be shallow, however. Most thermostatically controlled kitchen "pots" or "kettles" are too deep. Whichever one you use exercise caution, especially when using it for the first time. Either baby-sit it while it heats up or take it outside in case you forget about it and it overheats. You need to find a temperature setting that will keep the hot melt glue at it's application temperature and no higher.
This particular hot melt glue is manufactured by one of the major hot melt companies, HB Fuller, and is their HL-3338 glue. Its application temperature is from 250F to 350F, and it's an EVA, high tack glue marketed for "adhesion to difficult materials". It's harder when cool than the soft translucent glue sticks that are very common. EVA is the polymer type and stands for Ethylene Vinyl Acetate. It's the most common polymer type used for hot melt glues.
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Apr 24, 2019
Super fast shipping and great packaging!
Lin Pan