Re: 990920 MMDigest

Jurgen Goering was having problems with pitting in  the "hold heet"
glue pot.

Jurgen!!  you are very lucky you haven't electrocuted yourself.  The
glue pot was NEVER meant to be used without the liner and it also
leaks water into the bottom of the pot.  I would suggest you take out
the two screws that hold the inside and outside buckets together and
try cleaning out the rust ASAP in the exterior container.

I have not used my liner in years.  I had special plastic squeeze
bottles made and  three of them fit perfectly inside the empty (and
dry) glue pot.  They are the basic ketchup or mustard bottle with a
2 inch spout only they are translucent so I can see the glue.   I keep
the liner on the shelf in case I ever need a whole pot at one time.
I mix up the glue in the microwave in a large 4 or 8 cup measuring cup.
I slowly bring the temp up by zapping 1 minute at a time and 30 seconds
per zap once it starts melting. I stir between zaps and when it is glue,
I pour it into the bottles put on the cap and put it in the refrigerator
until needed.  The only possible problem is if you do this you should
monitor the glue temp and you may need to open up the glue pot and
adjust the temp adjustment which is found bradded to the bottom of the
inside bucket.  You will also see at the same time that the heat comes
from the sides of the inside bucket, which is why this works.  If the
heat came from the bottom the bottles might not work as well as they do.

I keep three of them in the glue pot which is on all day in the shop.
It goes off at night, and if I am out of the shop longer than a
weekend, the glue goes into the fridge to prevent its molding.  I never
have to add water, and I never have to leave the lids off to thicken it
if the thickness was right when I made it.  It is totally futz-free.
I do not need a glue pot lid anymore.  I seldom use a brush except for
big jobs.  I use one bottle for about 10-15 minutes replace it and use
the next one and keep rotating.  Presently I have two glue pots with
6 bottles going at one time, as everybody in the shop is constantly
using hot glue.  I have always said that anyone who does not like hot
glue is not using correctly.  The only technique to using the glue
bottle system is to pick up the bottle squeeze it slightly first and
then tip it over.  this prevents it dripping all over when you tip it.
I have also gotten so good at the pre-tip-squeeze that I never have to
clean out the spout.  When I put the glue bottle down it sucks the glue
back into the bottle clearing the tip for the next use.

Hope this helps.

D. L. Bullock  Piano World St. Louis