I finally stopped using hot glue for desk pen holders

Kept having my little clay pen cups fall apart after a few weeks until I realized hot glue just doesn't hold up to the weight of pens shifting around. Switched to a two-part epoxy from the hardware store for $8 and my latest build has held solid through 3 months of daily use. Anyone else here find hot glue just isn't worth it for stuff that actually gets handled?

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2 Comments

masondixon2mo ago

Read somewhere that hot glue actually has pretty low shear strength compared to other adhesives, so it makes sense your pen cups kept failing under the weight. Epoxy is definitely the move for anything that gets bumped around or holds weight over time. I switched to using construction adhesive for some of my heavier desk organizers and haven't looked back.

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the_julia2mo ago

Hot glue has its place for lightweight stuff where you want a quick fix and don't mind redoing it later. Not everything needs to be built like a tank, and epoxy is a pain if you mess up placement or need to adjust something. Sometimes the convenience of a fast, removable bond is worth more than shear strength numbers on paper.

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