Glue Sticks
Glue sticks are manufactured in several diameters for different glue guns. The most-used size has a diameter of 11 millimetres (0.43 in). Sticks are available in various lengths, from about 10 centimetres (3.9 in) up, although guns will accept sticks of any length. Thinner 7 mm (0.28 in) sticks are also used. Hot-melt and low temperature glue sticks are available for different types of guns, and some dual-use sticks melt at low temperatures but can be used at high temperatures without degradation. Hot melt adhesives are also available as granules, powder, slats, blocks, foils, ribbons, and solutions.
For household use, only a few types of stick are available, and they are more or less interchangeable. For industrial use, many types of sticks are available for special purposes, with the most common diameters being 12 mm (0.47 in), 15 mm (0.59 in), and 45 mm (1.8 in). Compositions resistant to plasticizers, usually based on polyamides, are needed for gluing PVC. Sticks have different open time and set time, varying from a few seconds to several minutes. The times depend on glue temperature, substrate, rate of heat loss from the glue mass, etc. A range of values of viscosity and heat resistance of the bond are available.
Read more about this topic: Hot-melt Adhesive
Famous quotes containing the words glue and/or sticks:
“I was never one to patiently pick up broken fragments and glue them together again and tell myself that the mended whole was as good as new. What is broken is broken—and I’d rather remember it as it was at its best than mend it and see the broken places as long as I lived.... I wish I could care what you do or where you go, but I can’t. My dear, I don’t give a damn.”
—Margaret Mitchell (1900–1949)
“Pancakes and fritters,
Say the bells of St. Peter’s.
Two sticks and an apple,
Say the bells of Whitechapel.
Kettles and pans,
Say the bells of St. Ann’s.”
—Unknown. The Bells of London (l. 7–12)