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by Peter Brett - May 2005
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Hot Melt Heaven?
With the new set of Rapid glue guns to hand I set out to see if I could improve my image of glue guns and gain some further insight into their efficient use.
The range I tried consisted of the Rapid EG 310, the EG 325 and the EG350-E.
The Rapid EG310 is the smallest of the range on trial, it is intended for heavy DIY or light professional use, and there are several features about it that immediately appealed. The best of these, in my opinion, being the very large trigger. It is a contrasting black to the grey ABS body and runs the full length of the handle. So, it can be operated by all four fingers. This is a good feature for small hands that find it difficult to get a good flow of glue onto the joint before it all starts setting.
Using a whole hand speeds up the process considerably. During longer periods of use it also stops one’s forefingers from getting overworked. Also, the whole gun is very light, the nose is well protected with a rubber heat shield and the shape is so well designed that whatever angle it is used at, it feels comfortable.
Perhaps the feature I liked least was the adjustable stand. Although this held the gun stably when placed on a flat surface, it was quite easy to knock over.
With some over-enthusiastic use from one of my students, it became bent and never quite the same again.
I found that the glue gun heated up very quickly, and even my most impatient students were able to use it (I must add with one-to-one supervision) within five minutes of the start of the lesson.
The part of the gun just above the prismatic heating element never became hot enough to burn bare skin, and the handle never seemed to absorb heat at all.
Glue flow was very easy, courtesy of the high melting capabilities of the heating element and the DYNAMICGRIP™ handle.
My students voted the Rapid EG310 a huge improvement on the glue guns they currently use, but tough luck to them, because the low melt version is back in use on Monday! I am not going to risk the wrath of any Health and Safety officer.
Next up was the EG 325. Much meatier and bigger and yet commendably light, a true professionals machine. It looks very much like a “stretched” version of the EG 310 above. It too has all the features I liked including the DYNAMICGRIP™ handle. But it does have a much more stable and stronger wire stand fixed in two places on nose and handle.
Using an advanced thermal cell system glue heating is rapid and even, so that the gun is on stream within a few minutes of plugging it in. The user can select a higher or lower temperature for the glue via a small sliding switch at the base of the main handle. Since there are several specialist glue sticks available for different materials and conditions, this enables the user to take advantage of them. As with the smaller model, the heat was kept well away from users&Mac226; fingers. The body never became more than just above warm, and heat never penetrated to the handle at all.
Advancing the glue through the gun was very easy. Even when the stick had to be replaced it took up with the old one seamlessly. I was very happy using this particular glue gun, valuing its flexibility, lightness and capacity. My technician colleagues were very happy with it too, and if I had not kept an eye on it, it would have “gone missing”.
The EG350 glue gun was last under scrutiny. Made for heavy professional use, it looks the business and has certain major differences from the other two.
The gun I tried had a 200 degree Celsius “fuse” fitted. The user can change the “fuse” to get different temperatures with different glues. So with the interchangeable nozzles and the temperature selection the professional user can tailor the glue gun to the exact needs of the task in hand.
Instead of the large DYNAMICGRIP™ trigger, a large trigger operated by the two main fingers of the hand is used. This combined with the black rubberized grip makes for comfortable use and very efficient glue feed.
There is a very substantial (and removable if necessary) wire stand supplied. This does a superb job of holding the gun on a flat surface. For a user who needs it, a plastic loop can be popped out of the main body above the centre of gravity so that the gun can be suspended right way up when in use. A loop on the handle can be used to hold the gun should it need cooling before storage.
At 500W this is indeed a professional “weapon” of the trade. It heats quickly, its versatility is not in question, it looks great and it handles well. Frankly, I have found a few jobs that I just need to do with it soon.
With all these glue guns it is possible to choose a variety of nozzles according to the end use. A pair of spanners is supplied to change nozzles.
The Rapid range of glue guns have convinced me that they can be valuable tools with enough features to make hot gluing a better solution than traditional methods in some situations. They seem to be the result of a well thought out piece of product development rather than an “off the peg” solution.
Airstream Communications