: Yeah. The cheaper the better. You really don't want GOOD hot glue
: sticks. For our purposes, most of the hot glue use is for
: temporary clamping. You want something that will hold your strip
: in place until a decent adhesive (glue or epoxy) sets up and
: creates a permanent bond. After that you want the hot melt glue
: joint to break free with a sharp tap from a hammer. if the
: hot-melt join is in any way "strong" you'll have to
: give it a really hard whack to break it. That could cause
: damage. So in this case, cheap glue, which will not give you a
: good bond, is exactly what you want.

: The local dollar store has bags of the mini glue sticks (low temp).
: Great for our needs. They used to have glue guns for a dollar,
: too, but I can't find them that cheap any more.

: There are some expensive gluing systems which use an expensive hot
: glue in a fancy applicator. These tools are designed for durable
: glue joints, and give a joint strength similar to what you would
: get with a white glue, or a hide glue. Since the glue is applied
: hot, the bond sets up in a minute or less--much faster than
: waiting for white glue to set. I'm told cabinet makers love the
: stuff. It is great stuff, expensive, and most definitely: This
: is NOT what we want.

: In a posting on "building costs" this week someone listed
: a cost of over $100 for their hot glue. That would likely be
: someone who bought one of these professional hot glue systems.
: The craft stores have cheap glue guns for under $10--sometimes
: you'll find them for less than $5. A hardware store might have
: one for $15- $20 with a thermostat and a fancy stand. Go for the
: cheap one. It does the job every bit as well.

: And remember--use it sparingly. Every bit of hot glue you apply
: will have to be removed. The only exception woult be the few
: drops used to hold a strip of glass cloth along the cheer line
: so it is in place when the deck and hull are joined. Those drops
: are buried under the epoxy resin which will coat that cloth.
: Keep the glue spots very small.

: PGJ

Hot glue guns, like all tools, fall into the category of "you get what you pay for." I have much experience with the cheap ones as my wife owned a flower shop for many years and I have some experience with hot wood glue. The cheap guns and glue will work but not to my liking. The guns are designed to be plugged in a half hour before you need to use them and they are to be left on all day. You might get 10-12 drops of hot glue before you have to wait for the stick to reheat. The cheap glue worked fine in the flower shop - doing what it was designed to do.
My gun cost about $18. I plug it in and wait for about 2 minutes and it is ready to use and will continuously pump out glue until, the stick is gone. My glue is recommended for a "medium" bond of wood to wood. I use hot glue as a clamp so it needs to hold firmly. I have never had any wood fiber pull out when I smacked the glue bond to break it. Also, never had a problem scraping off the residue with a cabinet scraper.
Like all tools, you buy what you can afford that will do the job that you personally are comfortable with.
Randy
Randy