The challenge began at Edinburgh Zoo on Saturday and would take us on a route down through Scotland to Carlisle, Lancaster to Preston, and finally arriving at the Hospice in Oldham at 11.30 on Sunday morning.

The Glue Gun Team

Cyclists: Billy Scott, David Ireland and Lee Pilkington

Drivers: Ian Kenyon and Craig Keating (also First Aid)

The Journey

The trip was by no means easy. Lee Pilkington was, to his dismay, unable to finish the ride after falling from his bike at high speed and having to recover at a nearby hospital. Despite this the team ventured on, overcoming the predictable punctures that sprung up during the journey. Just before arriving in Cumbria we congratulated ourselves for bringing a spare bike, as David’s was taken out of action by snapped gear cables.

We arrived in Shap, Cumbria at 2.00am, enduring the foggy, wet and cold weather. Despite the nasty climate it was the hills (oh the hills!) that made our journey through Cumbria the hardest part of the challenge. Now running on fumes, the boys pushed through the pain barrier to continue southwards to our goal.

By 5am on Sunday morning tiredness was starting the creep in. The team had been awake for 21 hours, and cycling for 18 hours. McDonald’s had never looked so inviting when we arrived in Preston and we had a much-needed pit stop in preparation for our final push to the Hospice.

Rolling in to the Hospice car park at 11.30 on Sunday morning was an amazing feeling. We had made it, albeit wet, cold and tired (and bruised in some cases). We managed to raise just over £3000 for the Hospice. We would like to give our thanks to the team for taking part in raising funds for a very worthy cause. You can find out more about Dr. Kershaw’s Hospice and the work they do Here.

This offer applies to our:

12mm glue sticks

BUY 2 GET 1 FREE ON 5kg BOXES

View Products

15mm glue sticks

BUY 2 GET 1 FREE ON 5kg BOXES

View Products

 43mm glue slugs

BUY 2 GET 1 FREE ON 10kg BOXES

View Products

Don’t miss out on our special offers and promotions. Stay glued to our Facebook Page  and Blog for the latest news from Gluegunsdirect.com

For further information please call our sales team on 0161 627 1001. Offer ends 31st May 2013. Tecbond 132, Tecbond 134 and selected other grades are excluded from this promotion.

View our brochure on-line click here

GlueGunsDirect.com are committed to supplying high quality Tecbond hot melt adhesives, glue dots and Tec glue gun applicators to meet the ever changing and challenging materials used in today’s manufacturing processes with the emphasis on environmentally friendly adhesives. Delivering total solutions for any and every application problem. Solutions which include the supply of both the adhesive and the application equipment. Solutions which place great emphasis on being environmentally responsible and solutions based on the innovation you need to remain competitive.

Challenge us, we can bond anything!

Can you use a glue gun on fabric?

Yes! Just take a look at our previous post where we detailed all the arts and crafts projects you can do with a glue gun – many of the items we featured contain fabric. Hot glue is a great way to secure fabrics because it’s far more hardy than other adhesives and isn’t fiddly as needlework. Similarly, it’s extremely easy to use a glue gun on clothes.

Can you use a glue gun for electronics?

Yes. We have a wide range of specialist glues for bonding, potting and encapsulating electronics. View our Electronics Page

Can you use a glue gun on glass?

Yes – but there are a few things to consider before you do so. Firstly, you must ensure that the area of glass you are using the glue on is clean. Secondly, roughing the area of glass you are using with an abrasive material such as wet & dry paper will help the glue stick. Thirdly, the hot melt adhesive must be flexible and form a tough bond, we would suggest: Tecbond 232, Tecbond 261 and Tecbond 9010-CT for bonding glass.

Can you use a glue gun for wood projects?

Yes – in fact, we have a dedicated woodworking section on our site here. We constantly strive to meet the ever-changing demands of the modern woodworking industry and provide glue for professional woodworkers – meaning that our glue can be used for projects as large as granite worktop installation to something as small as a balsa-wood project for a child’s toy.

Can you use a glue gun for hair extensions?

Yes, but it’s best to leave this kind of thing to a trained hair professional. Suggested glue guns used for hair extensions: Tec 250 and Tec 305-12

With any hot melt adheisve we strongly recommend you carry your own tests to determine to your own satisfaction the suitability of the adhesive for your purpose

Esma Pacal Turan is a Turkish artist “fascinated with the communication between different people”. She uses a number of different mediums to express this; one of these mediums is her professional craft glue gun.

Esma takes inspiration from urban spaces, where people are both at one with the crowd and separate individuals with unique lives and experiences. She created these pieces to reflect that. Each character in the piece has an individual space, but as a whole makes up a larger, less focused pattern. The pattern of the whole is not symmetrical or neat, and this too reflects the importance of individuality in an urban space.

© Esma Pacal Turam

As well as this, Esma has made intricate home decorations. This chandelier, pictured above, is another piece of work by the artist. Turan, speaking about her use of glue guns, says:

“A glue gun works almost like a pencil for me. The outcome is transparent, flexible. It shimmers like crystal or glass, it is light in weight and it is a direct material. Most importantly, for me, is that I can draw directly with a gun”.

She describes her love of lace and glass, the appearance of ‘floating’ materials; this chandelier is a great example of this. The long garlands of beads perfectly emulate crystal and add elegance and authenticity to the piece.

We think this glue gun art is absolutely beautiful; it’s intricate and totally individual. If you want to know more about Esma, her website is here.

Don’t worry if you didn’t win – we’ll be holding draws at 500 and 1000 likes, so you still have a chance to win £200 worth of products!

Our Facebook page will be running various competitions, offering special promotions and promotional discounts on new products. By clicking ‘Like’, you’ll receive priority notifications for all of these special offers and promotions.

Join us today and stay glued to our Facebook page.

We’ve gathered the best of the web’s glue gun craft projects to give you a little insight into the wealth of craft projects you can embark on with your glue gun!

Studded Ring

This studded ring, by Anna H is a great little project, even for crafting beginners or those of us who don’t have a naturally artistic bent. She fixed small studs onto a ring with a hot glue gun – and that’s it! Using the same steps, studs or beads could be added to headbands, necklaces, bracelets or shoes. It’s a really easy project but shows just how versatile working with glue guns can be.

Scrabble Coasters

Yusra made these quirky Scrabble coasters with a few wooden Scrabble pieces and some cork tiles. Again, this is an example of the versatility of glue guns – you can use them on fabrics, wood, plastic, metal…the list is endless. The best thing about this project, aside from its cute individuality, is how inexpensive it is – all you need is some cork and a spare bag of Scrabble tiles!

Fabric Rosettes

Although we would always advise parental guidance when using hot glue, this project, by blogger Kristen, shows that there are plenty of glue gun projects for kids as well as adults. These cute Mickey and Minnie rosettes are easy to make and make a great addition to a child’s bedroom. But, as we mentioned, be careful not to let a child near a hot glue gun on their own.

Gingerbread House Christmas Card

This gingerbread house Christmas card, made by Claudine Casault at Kaboose, is really a seasonal project, but it’s so beautiful that we thought we’d include it in our list anyway. Claudine’s instructions include loose glitter for the gingerbread “icing”, but a glitter glue stick would not only make this more precise but also remove an unnecessary step in the card-making process. This would make a wonderful personalised gift for someone – it’s a shame it’s not Christmas sooner!

No-Sew Bow Ties

These little no-sew bow ties are adorable – rather than being a piece of clothing, they’re actually cake decorations. Again, this is a really simple project – all you need is some fabric, toothpicks and some scissors. They make a great addition to a dessert, but could also be used as a necklace or even on a pet’s collar.

As you can see from the examples in this post, there are loads of fun and crafty things you can do with hot glue. In our next post we’ll be looking at a professional artist who makes beautiful and intricate sculptures, including chandeliers, using only a glue gun.

This means that for all you bargain hunters out there, we have set up a gluegunsdirect.com e-bay shop to sell through any damaged outer boxes at hugely discounted prices.  The products themselves are still brand new and undamaged, but the outer box is no longer as pretty as it should be!

In the gluegunsdirect.com e-bay shop you will also find any discontinued lines or products that were returned for whatever reason.  Again nothing wrong with the products themselves, but the outer packaging may be damaged or missing.

Through the gluegunsdirect.com e-bay shop you can find bespokely packaged items.  For example, if you’re interested in different coloured glue sticks, but only want a few of each colour rather than a boxful, visit the gluegunsdirect.com e-bay shop.  You can send a message and request any pack size and colour combination you wish, and it will then be listed for you.

Gluegunsdirect.com the e-bay shop

Visit our Facebook page, click like and you will entered into our draw.

You will have three chances to win, first draw will be made at 100 likes, second draw 500 likes and a third draw at 1000 likes, each draw one lucky person will win £200 of products on our website of their choice. Our Facebook page will be running various competitions, offering special promotions and promotional discounts on new products, by clicking like, you will receive priority notifications of all our special offers and promotions.

Join us today, stay glued to our Facebook page……………….

* Terms & Conditions Draw will be made a 100 likes, 500 likes and
1000 likes or at the nearest possible point £200 is a net value . All winners
orders must be taken in one order and will be carriage paid. Promotion expires
1st November 2013 or when 1000 likes have been achieved. No cash equivalent is
offered. No Glue points are available with this promotion.

Correx is a brand name and registered trademark of DS Smith Correx and the name Correx has become a generalised reference for corrugated plastic throughout the UK & Europe.

Correx corrugated plastic is an extruded, twin-wall, fluted plastic used in many industry markets such as Automotive, Construction, Display and Point of Sale, Rail and Pharmaceutical Packaging. Correx is also used extensively in the returnable food plastic packaging industry and Tecbond 263 glue sticks offer a problem solving gluing solution from a hand held glue gun.

Tecbond 263 hot melt adhesive is applied via a Tec 305-12, Tec 805-12, Tec 810-12 or Tec 820-12 glue gun range which are designed for the dispensing of molten adhesive as required.

For further information please contact 0161 627 1001 or Email: sales@gluegunsdirect.com

Links for reference:

Tecbond 263 glue sticks

Tec 12mm glue gun range

Glue selector

Plastic bonding with Tecbond glue sticks