Gluesticks

any advice on moulding hot melt glue sticks?

I am an artist making things that require custom tinted hot melt glue sticks. I can sucessfully tint the melted glue, but I am having a hard time "remoulding" the tinted, melted glue. The glue that I am melting is a special ,extra sticky glue for wood. I have a process that works but is very long and involved I am trying to remake a glue stick, now tinted, for use in a standard vari-temp glue gun. The glue stick is 7/16 inch diameter. Touching it with your hands is not a options: it is hot and very sticky. I am also concerned about mould relaeases degrading the adhision of the glue.

Public Comments

1. Are you trying to remold it into the original stick shape? Trying to figure out a release for using molds? Shape it with your hands and sculpting tools? For sculpting I would use a heat gun to spot heat it where I was working at that moment. Without knowing what it is you are tring to do, it's a little difficult to say.
2. use one of those little tubs that the chicken mcnugget sauce comes in or just tell a porcupine to do it a giant porcupine they know and they can help just ask or tell them sometimes blind brute force describes things very well **** why not just utilize the glue to the best of your ability and then buy more when you run out? cuz I imagine melted hot glue that has dried won't be as good if you use it over - if you can scrape it off whereever you can anyway
3. Extrude it. Basicly you have to make a glue gun that puts out a 7/16" bead of glue. All you have to have is a cyclider to put the tinted glue into and keep it hot. A "plunger" to push to glue out. And last you need an apprx. 7/16" hole to push the glue out of. Make it small enough to handle and keep your batches small. Maybe try extruding your glue over wax paper so it does not stick. Cut your glue strips into glue sticks. Good Luck.