executive summary: the ups and downs of using industrial glue guns as a Regular Joe

 SAFETY

    OMG wear gloves. Seriously, if you have ever used a glue gun for more than ten minutes, you must surely have burned yourself at least once.  Smarts, doesn’t it?  If you elect to go with a High Temperature gun, the glue will be coming out nearly twice as hot.  The burns from it are awful, and I have two brand new blisters to prove it.  Learn from my mistake: don't be a macho tool, wear gloves.

DISPENSERS (also known as guns and applicators)

HT vs LT
 The first and most important choice you have to make is between “High Temperature” or “Low Temperature”.  Industrial guns come in both flavors.

 All hot glue guns sold into the consumer market are LT.  Virtually all glue sticks found in hardware and craft stores are LT.  They are cheap, and readily available everywhere.  This is a significant advantage which ought not to be dismissed.  You are giving that up if you go with HT adhesives.

 However, virtually all LT adhesives - even those claiming to be “premium” or “high strength” are relatively soft, low-strength, rubbery glues.

 HT adhesives on the other hand, offer a broad selection of special-purpose compositions for cardboard, wood, plastics, high strength, difficult-to-bond surfaces (including polypropylene, polyethylene, polished metal, and glass), carpet seams, hair weaving, and much more.

 HT adhesives must generally be bought online, and they may or may not cost more per weight or stick, depending on how much you buy at a time.  Further, some vendors require purchase of really large quantities - like 25 pounds, but a few vendors like hotmelt.com and gluegun.com break down the industrial box quantities and sell smaller amounts.

 Understand however, that even the highest-performing hot melt adhesives cannot compete with epoxies or cyano-acrylates or other high-strength adhesives.  Hot melts are best for joins having large surface areas, between weak materials. When the strength of the adhesive starts to become important, hot melts are less desirable.

note: glue sticks claiming to be “multi-temperature” are low temperature adhesive.  Do not use them in an industrial high-temp gun.  Use only high-temp adhesives in a high-temp gun.  Use only low-temp adhesives (and “multi-temp” LOL) sticks in low-temp guns.  Ignore this and either your gun will spit hot glue unexpectedly, or it may clog.

brands
    There are loads of brands of glue and adhesive, and the manufacturers of the guns will all tell you that you must use their brand of adhesives or the warranty will be invalid, you might ruin the gun, communism will rise again, and your breath will turn foul. Ignore that bull shit.

     I decided to look at 3M branded models for a couple of reasons including past experience with 3M products and the recommendations of some crafters and model-makers and costumers, but there are other brands.  I just don’t know which ones are the good ones.  I’ve noticed the heavier duty (seeming) models - including 3M - have brass nozzles.  Some have copper, but I personally would worry that copper would bend or dent too easily.  The glues don't seem to stick to the brass at all - makes those nozzles easier to clean.

the AE-II
    I’ve already described in these pages the saga of what I thought I was buying, what I actually wound up with, and what I decided to do about it.  I’m impressed with the gun, and if anybody is looking - as I was - for an industrial tool to replace a string of broken consumer-grade hot glue guns, this one will serve nicely, if you can find it for a decent price.  They retail for $80 - $100, although I was able to score one on eBay for $40 the moment I went looking.

     The gun heats up in 3 minutes (which is FAST) and once hot, it DOES NOT slow down, no matter how much glue you shove through it (well, 3M says the limit is 4 pounds per hour). That’s thanks to the high heater power and the temperature regulator. It also lets you waste glue at a fantastic rate if you aren't careful.

    It is big - as all of these high-wattage, industrial applicators will be.  However, there are long skinny extension nozzles available for the AE-II and several others which overcome this issue.  There are also other specialty nozzles which will fit this gun and others, and boy doesn't 3M want a fuckton of money for them??  Best bet is to look on eBay. Most of the nozzles cost anywhere from 100% - 500% of what I paid for the gun, so... yeah, check eBay.

    That model comes in both HT and LT versions, but the two are in all other respects identical, including heater power and warmup time.

VENDORS / SOURCES

    The AE-II and other name brand guns are available from Amazon (and eBay, where I found mine) as well as the vendors I mentioned above.  Shop around.  If you’re on a tight budget, as I was, consider a used one on eBay.

SAFETY

    Did I mention you should wear gloves?  OMG you guys, wear gloves.  And if it's not obvious, that means no bare feet, sandles, open-toed shoes... hell, after the two little burns I got recently, I'm tempted to put on welding leathers every time I use the glue gun. Worth it.  Hot glue is fast!