I used hot glue and it worked well. I did not use the wood only hotglue that macks recommends. Normal general use worked fine for me. I wrapped the forms with duck tape first. A good whack with the heel of my hand removed the forms easily.

I ditched the hot glue method for the most part because I could get a much tighter joint with duck tape alone.

: I've been reading a lot on this board and elsewhere in preparation for my
: first stripper, which I will be starting in the spring. This winter I'll
: be gathering the tools and materials, building the strongback, cutting the
: forms, and ripping the strips.

: Rob Macks recommends hot-melt glueing the strips to the forms, which makes
: sense. I don't quite understand how to dislodge the strips from the forms
: afterwards. It seems like you would have to build the hull, and dislodge
: it before starting the deck, otherwise how would you get at the forms? Is
: this correct?

: Also, I think it was Rob that mentioned that hot melt glue has kind of a weak
: bond, and a sideways whack would break the bond. If you were to use this
: method of dislodging, you would have to unscrew all the forms from the
: strongback so that you could whack them loose from the hull. Then you'd
: have to go through the hassle of re-attaching them and lining them all up
: again so you could build the deck. I doubt if anyone does this, so how,
: exactly, do you remove the deck and hull from the forms when they're
: hot-glued in place? On Rob's website he talks about prying them away. Is
: there any other way?

: While on this subject, are all hot glues pretty much alike? I want to make
: sure I get a glue gun that handles a generic glue stick that can be bought
: anywhere, and not some brand that has to have it's own proprietary glue
: sticks. Are glue stick sizes pretty standard?

: Thanks in advance, and thanks to all for all the answers I've received so
: far. I already bought my plans, it will be a Hans Friedel designed Spirit,
: purchased through Newfound Woodworks.