The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

Day: August 5, 2011

  • Hot Melt Glue Burn

    I managed to slobber some fresh hot melt glue on my finger…

    Glue burn - after cooling
    Glue burn – after cooling

    It was whoop-dee-do brown carpentry glue from a gun that claims 350 °F output, so what looks like toasted flesh is actually the last remnants of the glue. The advice seems to converge around do not peel the glue (because you’ll rip the damaged skin and leave yourself with an infection) and keep the burn cool.

    After a few hours cuddling with an ice pack I figured I was probably going to live through this. The next morning the glue flaked off, leaving a mighty blister behind.

    Glue burn - blister
    Glue burn – blister

    Looks like something Piter de Vries might have enjoyed inflicting, had Frank Herbert only known about hot melt glue guns: “… there’s a sort of beauty in the pattern of pus-white blisters on naked skin, eh, Baron?”

    One should don all manner of Personal Protective Equipment before using a glue gun, but I bet you don’t, either.