recommendations for a hot glue gun?

I've been frustrated using a cheap little hot glue gun so I plan to get a better one. Often I want to hot glue mock-ups and prototypes, sometimes boxes of foamcore or wood for camera boxes and such, sometimes with metal parts. So I feel I need a really strong glue that melts fast and holds strong for a variety of materials.

Looking around there seems to be a lot of choices so I want to see what you guys will recommend from personal experience. I've read online that a hundred watt model with variable heat settings would be ideal, but not sure if that is just marketing hype.

Should use easily available good quality glue sticks and probably not too big in diameter for fine lines. Would be nice if the gun had a power-on indicator light.

Thanks,
Keith

There are several materials used in the glue sticks. One thing I would like to find is a glue that doesn't cool off too quickly before I can complete the joins I am trying to make. If I am making joins along seams I sometimes use the glue gun like a tack welder to temporarily hold things in place before filling in the seam with a continuous 'fillet' of hot glue.

Good luck with your search.

A Bostick 1/2" glue gun with a couple of different nozzels. I think it has two temperature settings - high is hot enough to burn into your skin. The 1/4" glue guns are not really for serious work. The 1/2" ones generally are for permanent fixing.

I use a Bostick with trigger feed one of my aunts gave me 45 years ago.
Last sticks I bought at Walmart are 10"-12" in length which is very handy when running a long bead.

tokam said:

There are several materials used in the glue sticks. One thing I would like to find is a glue that doesn't cool off too quickly before I can complete the joins I am trying to make. If I am making joins along seams I sometimes use the glue gun like a tack welder to temporarily hold things in place before filling in the seam with a continuous 'fillet' of hot glue.

Click to expand...

I preheat surfaces and there is the chance to keep the location heated during glueing. But this is a hassle. I thus rareley use hot glue. Typically I use it to glue objects from PE/PP.