If you have been following my blog, then you're probably thinking...
He JUST made one of these things...
You are correct!
I made one for my wife a little while ago. It was done very quickly and with no real plan in mind. In fact, the first time I "mocked up" how the glue stick would sit in it and how much clearance I needed was when it was complete!
There were definite "shortcomings" with the one I made previously. For example, the base plank was too short; the larger glue gun actually "hangs" off the back. Also, the space between the "holder" and the glue stick storage was too short, resulting in some glue "drippage" on the storage box. Plus, the glue stick storage box was too tall, which made it difficult to see shorter glue sticks hiding in the bottom. And lastly, the piece of tile I used had to be "cracked" by hand because I didn't have a tile cutter in my tool stash.
Nevertheless, my wife loves hers! She uses it for her shorter glue gun, and she has no complaints. But, me being a perfectionist, I just saw the flaws.
So I learned from my mistakes the first time around, and luckily got a chance to redeem myself!
My mother-in-law saw my wife's hot glue gun holder, and decided she needed one as well!
Time for redemption!
I started off using scrap pieces of backer-board left over from the last hot glue gun holder. I made sure to cut (4) of them to 3" wide and 5" tall...
The first "mistake" to fix is here!
The previous model had a "box" shape for the glue stick storage. This really makes it tough to see what's really in there, and pretty much hides all the short glue sticks. I decided to address this problem by making matching angled sides. I also cut one of the rectangular pieces down so it could fit as the front "lip." This type of storage container should be more functional.
On to wood glue!
I glued all the sides together using wood glue and clamped them into position with mini clamps. I let it dry for 24 hours before taking the clamps off, just to make sure it was fully dried and wouldn't fall apart.
But, while it was drying, I mocked up a potential base.
Time to fix my second "mistake!"
Last time, the base was too short. This is inconvenient because the larger glue gun actually "hangs" off the back of the base and has difficulty staying upright. So, I actually borrowed my wife's glue gun and mocked up where everything would eventually sit; I came up with 14 inches as the ideal length. The width, of course, is the same as the glue stick storage container.
I rounded the edges of the base and sanded the piece down to remove all splinters.
Next comes the "holder" piece...
I used a piece that was the same width as the base and cut out a "U" shape for the glue gun to sit in. After sanding it down and rounding the edges, it was time to attach it to the base!
Time to fix mistake #3!
On the last hot glue gun holder, I only left about 2" of space between the "holder" part and the glue stick storage container. I basically had to do it this way because of how short the base was. Even so, this made it really hard for the gun to sit properly in the "holder" without toppling. Also, the hot end of the glue gun would sometimes hit the glue stick storage and drip on the side of it instead of the tile below...
Not good
To fix this, I just left an additional 1" of space (3-inches total) in between the holder and the glue stick storage. That should be plenty of room!
After measuring that out, I screwed the "holder" part in using 2 wood screws from the bottom.
I also glued the glue stick storage container on the base using heavy-duty wood glue; I clamped it to the base using my mini clamps until it was fully dried (24 hours before stressing the joints, of course).
The step I didn't show was the wood filler. There were a couple of gaps between the base and the storage container where I used some wood filler to close the gap. But, for the most part, it really sat nice and evenly on the base surface.
Last time, I used a little too much wood filler on the piece, which left some funny-looking grooves and spots. This time, I only used it on 2 gaps to close them up and fortify the piece. I let it fully dry for 24 hours before touching it.
After a good sanding to remove splinters and even out the wood filler, this bad boy is ready for paint!
I used satin metallic spray paint in Pearl White on this piece. It's a little more muted than the white I used on the previous piece, and it allows the wood grain to peek out a little more. I left that to dry for about 6 hours.
During that time, I turned my attention to the tile insert piece.
Mistake #4 coming in!
Last time, I used a chipped piece of scrap tile. I manually broke up the tile using a hammer and selected a small and irregularly shapes piece to act as the hot glue "catcher."
Well not this time!
I bought this piece of thick tile from a vendor at an antique sale with my mother-in-law present. I also promptly ordered a manual tile-cutter to help me cut it to the perfect size and shape.
The tile cutter used a lot of hand strength to do, but I eventually got it figured out! It looks like it was meant to be there all along!
I attached the tile piece to the base using Liquid Nails, cleaning up any glue that tried to escape. Shortly after this, I clamped the tile to the base and let it dry fully over 24 hours!
I put the glue sticks and glue gun into the piece to make sure everything sat properly.
Perfect fit!
And just like that, it's done! I even put it alongside the last one I did to compare...
When they are lined up side-by-side, you can really tell the difference! My wife's hot glue gun holder was a good trial run; but, the new and improved glue gun holder is so much more functional and thought-out!
My mother-in-law is going to love this project! She would have been just as happy with the first one I made, but since I got another crack at it, I wanted to learn from my mistakes and make it better!
-Kevin
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