The Best Glue Gun for Crafting and Construction

A craftsman and DIY enthusiast cannot go very far without a good glue gun by his/her side. In fact, a glue gun is one of your must-haves when taking up DIY projects, especially those that need assembling and joining parts together. With this buying guide, we’ll be sure to help you select the best glue gun for your crafting and workshop needs.

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Factors to Consider

1. Size

The size of your glue gun will depend upon the type of projects you’ll be doing. For projects that require fine details such as arts and crafts, a mini glue gun is the most appropriate for you. Adversely, a bigger glue gun will be much more beneficial for projects that require lots of gluing. 

2. Heating Capacity

A glue gun functions to heat up glue sticks into its stickier form; semi-liquid. Thus, the heating capacity of your glue gun matters greatly in this situation. From my personal experience, a cheap glue gun either heats up slow or doesn’t heat up sufficiently enough.

But worry not, for this list, we’ve chosen only the best glue guns that have enough heating capacity for any type of work.

Connected to the heating capacity of a glue gun is the amount of time it takes for it to heat up; or also called the heating speed. The best glue gun will ideally heat up around 3-5 minutes upon connecting to an electrical source. With this quality of a glue gun, you won’t have to wait long before starting on your project.

How do you know if a glue gun is up to our heating capacity and heating speed standards? Well, a 100 watt glue gun is generally a great option for both of these factors. So if you’re looking for the best glue gun, look for a 100-watt feature in the review or package.

WorkPro Cordless Hot Glue Gun

3. Ergonomic Design

For us DIY enthusiasts and craftsmen alike, we all know that one of the biggest enemies in crafting is hand fatigue. Professional's know this when choosing the best framing hammer, you need to look out for a product that reduces hand fatigue. The same principle applies here.

Hand fatigue can either be caused by a poor handle design or absence of an ergonomic feature of the glue gun. Thus, I recommend looking for a product with special attention to the handle.

In this way, you can continue crafting your projects without feeling the strain on your hand. This will mean much less effort in using the glue gun, and more time to create your projects.

4. Nozzle and Trigger

Among different glue guns, the nozzles and triggers will vary, as will their quality and design. Based from my personal experience with different brands of glue guns, the best type of nozzle is one that is designed to be anti-drip.

It also helps that your glue gun can accommodate interchangeable nozzles so that you can replace a nozzle if it gets clogged.

On the other hand, the trigger has to control the flow of your glue stick. Poor trigger design can lessen the control of your glue gun, and consequently result to more glue sticks wasted.

Inversely, a good glue gun will have trigger propulsion control that won’t cause your glue to flow too quickly on the material you’re putting it on. The result? Less glue wasted and never too much glue on your project.

5. Safety

Most glue guns will have LED lights to indicate that it is getting too hot. Overheating can cause damage to your project, and more importantly, it can be a fire hazard. So, one of my top recommendations is to choose a glue gun that has an overheat warning feature.

Surebonder Glue Gun Safety

Best Glue Guns

1. WORKPRO Cordless Hot Melt Glue Gun

Are you a DIY crafter with a lot of fine gluing to do? Pieces of carboard, wood,  or cloth can be easily glued together with this cordless glue gun from WORKPRO. Despite its size, it can heat up your glue in only 3-5 minutes. Moreover, it features the most important factors for a mini glue gun, such as great trigger propulsion control and a high-quality insulated drip-free nozzle for better application of glue on small pieces.

WorkPro-Cordless-Hot-Glue-Gun_no-drip

Pros

  • Fast heating
  • A safety LED indicator
  • Trigger propulsion control with drip-free nozzle
  • Durable material
  • Includes 20 pieces of glue sticks
  • Built-in 2600 mAh battery

Cons

  • Difficult to use for bigger projects
  • Needs to be keep charged

2. Anyylion 200-Watt Industrial Glue Gun High Temperature Professional Grade

This Anyylion 200 watt professional grade glue gun features a PTC heat-resistant body with 200 watts to heat up glue in no time. It also features a trigger feed anti-overheating case with thermal insulation on the handle. It features an LED indicator light, 20 pcs of premium hot melt glue sticks, and can be used for almost any project and on any type of material. The carrying case makes it easy to store and take on you projects.

GoGonova Cordless Hot Glue Gun_with Case

Pros

  • Industrial grade design
  • Insulated and interchangeable nozzle
  • Ergonomic handle design
  • 200-watt power, PTC heating system
  • Can be used for professional industrial-scale projects
  • Appropriate for long-term work

Cons

  • Can emit a strong smell
  • Not cordless, requires power to operate

3. GoGonova Cordless Hot Glue Gun

This features a PTC heat-resistant ergonomic design with soft gripping body surface with 60 watts, heats up in no time. It also features a LED indicator light, 25 pcs of premium hot melt glue sticks, and can be used for almost any project and on any type of material.

GoGonova-Cordless-Hot-Glue-Gun

Pros

  • Comes with 25 pcs premium hot glue sticks
  • Suitable for DIY crafts
  • LED indicator light
  • 60-watt power
  • Small and easy to use

Cons

  • Can emit a strong smell
  • lower power wattage then others reviewed

4. Boswell Full Size Hot Glue Gun with Multiple Tips

We have another glue gun for this list, which comes from Boswell. The best thing about this glue gun is its has six different glue gun tips. Easy adjustable heat from 140°C up to 220°C. The result? A wider range for projects. It also features six copper non-drip interchangeable nozzles, overheating production, and a well-designed body.

Boswell Full Size Hot Glue Gun 150 Watt

Pros

  • Adjustable temperature control
  • Short warm-up time
  • Six copper non-drip interchangeable nozzles
  • Automatic thermostat
  • Cooling hole and heat insulation device
  • Long-lasting
  • Lightweight
  • Easy to squeeze trigger
  • Easy to clean
  • Detachable stand to keep gun upright
  • LED indicator

Cons

  • Needs screwdriver to adjust temperature
  • Doesn’t come with free glue sticks

5. Surebonder PRO2-100L 100-Watt Low Temperature Industrial Glue Gun, Black

We have another glue gun for this list, which comes from Surebonder. The best thing about this glue gun is its adjustable temperature. It can heat up from 100°C up to 220°C. The result? A wider range for projects. It also features non-drip interchangeable nozzles, overheating production, and a well-designed body.

Pros

  • Comes with a stand
  • Solid and durable body
  • No drip nozzle
  • Lightweight
  • Good for general tasks

Cons

  • Glue can clog in the nozzle
  • Lower power capacity

Conclusion

We’ve reviewed 5 of the best glue guns available today. But which one of them is the best glue gun for you? Well, it all depends on your needs and preferences. But for me, the top choice for this selection is the Boswell Full Size Hot Glue Gun. It’s the only glue gun on this list with an adjustable temperature range combined with other great features such as 150-watt capacity, six drip-free copper interchangeable nozzles, lightweight, easy squeeze trigger, and a solid body construction.

On the other hand, the best value product for this list is the GoGonova Cordless Hot Glue Gun. For such an affordable price, you get 100-watt power, fast heating, indicator LED light, trigger propulsion control, and free 50 sticks of glue. I recommend this one for those big on DIY and crafting projects, especially.

The Boswell full size glue gun is great for all types of work—whether it be for DIY projects or for bigger projects/repair.

I hope you liked this article review. Thanks for reading!

Author

  • Emma Clark

    Hi there! My name is Emma Clark, a part-time interior designer, house flipper, and full-time mom. This blog is the fruit of my extensive experiences as an interior designer and home improvement enthusiast. More so, I'm here to share with you a lot of great ideas on what you can do to make your home into a masterpiece: all cost-effective and amazingly creative.