- Q.Some builders use
hot-melt glue for temporary jigs. Can hot-melt glue
also be used for a permanent bond? What types of
applications make sense for hot-melt
glue?
A.The use of hot-melt
as a "permanent" adhesive has been debated.
Personally, I don’t use it for permanent
bonds, but the furniture industry does, using it
for a whole array of purposes, including edging and
face-lamination of vinyl.
Hot-melt doesn’t penetrate and "wet" a
wooden surface the way other glues do, so the bond
it forms isn’t as rigid. Applications for
which I would consider using hot-melt include
gluing fabric and applying melamine edging to
particleboard. One thing is for certain: The
consumer grades are far different from the
industrial grades used by the furniture
industry.
— J.J.