Newsletter Network
Glue Stick
Here's a piece from The Conejo Valley Woodworkers Club Newsletter, The
Bladerunner, that may be of interest to some of you. It's by Bill Waters.
I've shortened it a bit for brevity.
About two months ago I agreed
to make some signs for the Thousand Oaks Botanical Gardens. I ordered
a sign lettering guide from Trendlines. The guide has about 90 letters
and numbers in two different sizes. The old story says, copy on a piece
of paper and use 3M adhesive spray adhesive to stick the piece of paper
to a piece of hardboard. Then cut it out on a scroll saw. I've seen that
described many times. What they don't tell you is what a mess that 3M
glue makes. You can spray it on paper, but somehow it gets on your hands,
clothes and everything else, including the bench top that your trying
to keep free of glue.
A while back I was discussing
this problem with someone, and he told me he noticed people in his office
using "glue stick." It is available at office supply stores. I purchased
a glue stick manufactured by Avery Label Company. It is a solid like a
stick deodorant and comes in a plastic tube. It is purple in color.
I rubbed the glue stick
all over the paper. After a few seconds, the purple color disappeared.
I stuck the paper on a piece of tempered hardboard and used a J roller
to press the paper down on the hardboard. I was able to drill a hole with
no tear out of the paper. On the scroll saw, the same thing. I pulled
the paper off the hardboard as easily as you pull a Post-it note off the
page of a book. It also turns out that the glue can be removed easily
with warm water. I am not implying that the glue will replace double-sided
carpet tape, but I do think it can be a substitute for 3M in this case.
-- Gabe Jaen
