The Complete Guide to Hot Glue Stick Sizing

Glue Stick Sizing Guide Overview

We have seen a lot of confusion in customers trying to find the correct hot melt stick for their specific hot melt gun. To try and help clear up the mystery behind choosing the right size glue stick, we have created a handy little cheat sheet to help you along the way. For specific questions about your hot melt needs or application, always feel free to contact one of our hot melt experts.

 

 


1/2" or 12mm Glue Sticks (Sometimes seen as 7/16")

1/2" glue hot melt sticks are the most common size available on the market today allowing for the widest variety of formulations to be used. The biggest thing to look for when choosing a 1/2" glue stick is making sure your hot melt gun and stick temperatures match up correctly.

Unless you are using an adjustable temperature hot melt gun, you must use a high temp glue stick with a high temp gun and a low temp glue stick with a low temp gun.

Here are some of our favorite glue guns that take 1/2" sized glue sticks:


5/8" or 15mm Glue Sticks

The advantage of 5/8" glue sticks is they allow for higher volume dispensing and having to replace sticks less often because they are larger. This is great for high volume applications.

There are 3 types of 5/8" glue sticks.

  1. 5/8" x 2" TC glue sticks (a 3M glue stick size),
  2. 5/8" x 8" Q glue sticks (a 3M glue stick size with ridges or bumps)
  3. 5/8" glue sticks where the length doesn't matter. These look like the smooth 1/2" glue sticks but slightly wider. 

Let's break down which guns you must use with these different types of 5/8" glue sticks. 

5/8" x 2" TC Glue Sticks - Must use one of the below 3M glue guns or Infinity Bond Brute.

5/8" x 8" Q Glue Sticks (glue sticks with ridges) - Must use one of the below 3M glue guns or Infinity Bond Brute.

5/8" Glue Sticks - Can use any standard 5/8" glue gun. Below are some of our favorites.


3/4" Glue Sticks

This is the most unusual stick size that we carry on Hotmelt.com. We have two brands that offer this size Infinity Melt & Surebonder. This size was made popular by some older model Hysol hot melt guns and tends to limit your formula options. Let us know if you are using this stick and we can often save you enough money on a case of hot melt to purchase an awesome new gun.

The Only 3/4" Glue Gun We Carry

  • PAM HB 320 Glue Gun (not a stock item, but we can order it in)
  • Loctite 075 Glue Gun

1" x 3" Glue Sticks

The only glue gun that uses this stick size was invented by 3M and has been around as long as we can remember. The 3M PG II pneumatic glue gun is a workhorse and consistently a top seller in high volume pneumatic glue guns.

The 3M PG II glue gun comes in both standard temp and low temp, it's important to buy the correct temperature hot melt. Since this 3M glue gun is so popular for industrial applications, we are happy that our other manufacturers like Ad Tech and Surebonder also carry this unique 3M glue stick size.


1 3/4" x 1 3/4" or 43mm Glue Sticks

Glue slugs are common for high output industrial applications. Power Adhesives, Loctite/Hysol and PAM all have glue guns that are capable of using the 1 3/4" glue slugs. All the glue guns available to use this size glue slug are high output. Commonly, we see 1 3/4" glue guns used in product assembly and packaging. We have a wide variety of hot melt formula shaped into 1 3/4" slugs.

Here are some of the most popular glue guns that use the 1 3/4" glue slugs.


Questions? We Are Here to Help

Please fill out this contact form or give us a call at 877-933-3343 if you are unsure about what glue sticks or glue guns to purchase. We are always happy to help you select the best hot melt formula for your application and glue gun.

Ask a Question

Have questions? Our team of hot melt experts can help. Submit your questions and we'll get you answers right away. We're here to help.