Saw too many people using hot glue on load bearing joints and watching the whole thing collapse

Went to a local maker meetup last weekend and three different people had cardboard furniture that fell apart because they used hot glue where the weight was. Hot glue gets brittle after a day or two. I've been using white wood glue on all my joints for the past year since my first fort caved in on my nephew. Wood glue soaks into the cardboard fibers and dries hard. Hot glue just sits on top. Has anyone else noticed this or am I the only one who had to learn it the hard way?

2 comments

2 Comments

victor_adams951mo ago

And it's the same thing in so many other areas of life. People grab the quick fix because it's easy and looks fine for the first hour, then wonder why everything falls apart later. I've seen guys patch a hole in drywall with spackle that's way too thin just to get it done, and a week later it's cracked and crumbling. Same with cheap tape on moving boxes instead of the good stuff - saves you ten cents now, costs you a broken lamp later. Hot glue is the perfect example of that whole "fast and weak" mindset. It works great for crafts that sit on a shelf, but people treat it like it's structural and that's just asking for trouble.

miller.jason1mo ago

Wait, people actually use thin spackle for drywall patches? That's insane lol. @victor_adams95 I thought everyone knew you gotta build it up in layers or use the mesh stuff, that's just asking for it to fail immediately.