Well, I found UHU gluesticks whilst at my local Michaels. I was kicking around the idea of using double-sided scotch tape, but they were out of stock. Then I saw a bunch of double-sided 'sheets', but they came in 4" squares and were ~$5.

Then I saw the elusive UHU sticks which I assumed were no longer available in the US, excluding mail order. Cost: $3.99 per stick. I also saw 3-packs of 3M glue sticks for $3.79.

SOoooooo; I got 2 UHU sticks and 2 packs of the 3M sticks and did a quick test gluing a couple of anchors and a 6" floor tile. The UHU glue is ... more of a deodorant consistency, smoother to apply. The 3M sticks seem to have more initial tack when applied, leaving a bit of a streak on the paper.

I was pleasantly surprised with the results; using the 3M stick on the floor tile it adhered wonder-fly, and dried super-quick, same with the UHU stick on the anchors.

Next up: I've brought some materials to work; a few walls from the Lost Halls of the Dwarven Kings and will build a few, using each stick to compare. Pictures forthcoming .....

</to be continued>

I am looking forward to hearing the comparisons. Watch out for warping with the 3M is my guess. My hunch is the water content is higher, but I have been wrong once or twice before in my life...

Really interested in how these turn out.

The choice of glues is very limited here and, although avoided them till now, glue sticks are becoming the only non-toxic card friendly option left.

OK! Round 1:

3M Scotch vs UHU on a 3" Wall Section:



(Forgive the lack of quality, I'm using my laptop's webcam)

^^ here is the Scotch gluestick, I did the sandwich fold, placed under my cutting mat for ~5 minutes, then did the anti-warp ledge after drying. I like this stick since it's about half the thickness of the UHU stick. No noticeable warping thus far.



^^ This is the UHU stick, same technique. I did notice a VERY slight warping after the 5-minute dry time, but a quick flex to correct it then glueing the ledge and it looks straight now. This stick, being wider, is a little harder to use, but the results are pretty much identical.

Results For Round 1: Scotch

... and only by a hair, due to the thinner stick. Next round: the 6" walls .. stay tuned folks

I like this experiment of yours!

The biggest problem I have with glue sticks in general is the fact that they frequently don't lend any additional rigidity to the bond, and the bond often decays over time. When I layer with tacky white glue or the orange Elmer's no-wrinkle glue, the glue dries stiff and lends a sort of plywood-like reinforcement to the laminate. That extra stiffness comes in handy more often that not, especially when I'm doing custom layered blends of different paper stocks. (Some paper is awesome for printing and sucks for building, other paper is great for building but sucks for printing, so I like to Frankenstein different stocks together to achieve the kind of print/build characteristics I want for any given project.)

The one kind of glue stick I absolutely love, on the other hand, is the repositionable/restickable glue stick. I use it to tack down little furniture vignettes, apply "decals" to models, and as an indoors-friendly substitute for Krylon 7020 spray when making disposable carrier sheets for my machine cutter. I love that stuff.

Round 2:

6 Inch Walls



^^ Here's the Scotch stick. No warping, and the ledge was easy to adhere onto the wall.



^^ And this is the UHU stick. This time, there's a bit of warping and the ledge didn't adhere immediately, I had the continually rub with a skewer to get it to stay down.

Conclusion: 3M Scotch is the winner! .. at least for building walls. It seems to have a stronger initial tackiness, and of course the thinner tube is easier to apply to the ledges. SO, I'll still use the UHU sticks for my ground tiles and templates, and of course my trusty Titebond molding & trim wood glue for all other applications (applying anchors, props, etc.)

MelEbbles: I too was concerned about the rigidity using these glue sticks, I've been using wood glue for years. I wanted to give these sticks a try since A) It's has a quicker drying time and B) I can use them at work to knock out a bunch of parts during my frequent down-time. Note: I do spray 2 light coats of clear flat paint over the sheets before cutting & gluing, so I think that adds to the cardstock's stiffness overall.

To expand on the techniques used here, I applied an even coat of glue on ONE side of the sandwich fold, burnished and placed under my cutting mat for 5 minutes, then when dry, I applied a thin layer of glue on the spot where the anti-warp ledge stick to the wall as well as the long white part of the ledge that tucks under (to assure a good bond).

Well that was fun, now for more wall building!

Very helpful summary, TelcoLou.

Please can you post pics of the two glue sticks you're trialing, so we can identify them in the shops. - Thanks, Zen

Oh yeah, pics of the gluesticks would help, wouldn't they



The store also carried the purple colored UHU sticks (goes on purple, dries clear) for the same price. Amazon carries these as well (I grabbed the images there), for about the same prices, not including shipping.

Update: after a day of drying, the walls are still nice & flat, no warping (last night I had to flex the ones glued with the UHU stick just a bit to work out the mild warping)

Well, another quick update:

I moved on to some Obliette of Peril walls, specifically (for purposes of this post), the hard-as-nails-to-cut-out multiple archway walls:



^^ and this is just the 3" wall I did one of the 6" wall last night. Boy is it impressive. I never got these results using wood glue, it always left a bit of warping, even after an overnight dry period under a weighted cutting mat.

"All hail Scotch Glue Sticks!! OOoOoOhhHhmmmm!!!"

I am curious what kind of results you might get on the simple wall version of the arched wall.

I mean the other wall that prints on the same page as that one. The one without the triangular part.

Thanks, this is really helpful TelcoLou. Pretty sure those 3m stick are available locally - will go hunting

Overall, it seems like it was close, but the 3M stuff took the lead on every test. Honestly, not what I expected. On a similar note, I always press my parts between some wooden boards with a pile on books on them over night. It seem that this might be unnecessary to do. I could likely get away with a much shorter dry-time.

OKAY!

Round 3



I did this test on one of the Posts, just the sandwich fold. Results are pretty much the same as the clear stick, but I noticed a bit more tackiness after applying to a scrap piece of cardstock, when touched with my finger. Also a bit of a weird result .. after gluing, I placed them under a weighted book for 5 minutes, then when I removed them, they seemed to have a slight warp. BUT after just sitting out on my desk, they flattened out after a few minutes.

I'm on the fence with this one ... I'm a little concerned that this version (it's solid white, like the UHU gluestick) states "permanent" and the other glues do not. I'll build a few more things then another update

Awesome! Thanks for the research, Zenguy .. I feel better now

Well, I went for it:



^^ here I glued the tab into place on the post, and it held perfectly; this stuff bonds VERY well!

Feeling confident, I went even further:



^^ It was a bit tricky getting into the inside upper tabs at the top of the steps, so I smeared a bit of the glue onto a wooden skewer and applied it carefully. I'm liking this a lot.
It also has a little bit of 'wiggle room' .. a couple of the tabs weren't in the exact spot I wanted, so I was able to kind of 'glide' them in place while the glue was setting up.

SOOOO, in conclusion:

UHU stick for ground tiles/templates
Scotch Clear stick for sandwich folds
Scotch 'permanent' stick for finishing tabs

Oh sure thing

UHU For the ground tiles/floor templates; It seems to have a longer drying time, so I would lay the pieces under a heavy book while I'm working on other things .. and the stick itself is wider, so it would be easier to smear on a large area (though I did see thinner versions of the UHU stick too)

Scotch Clear for the sandwich folds; it seems to have the least warping results of the 3 I've used.

Scotch white 'permanent'; SUPER tacky, I used it for the tabs and it dries very quickly.

Got ya - thanks

Ya know, I found a bunch of those 3M Scotch glue sticks online due to sunraven's recommendation and I've been less than happy with them. It's a pain to apply 'cuz I really have to hold down my paper to get the glue stick to slide across it and leave some glue on it. I almost always end up getting some on my fingers and often onto whatever surface I'd put under it--and then that somehow gets smeared onto the printed front of the piece, too. I'd also had problems with sandwich folds leaving a "gap" right near the fold where the two layers weren't staying together. That went away after I started putting the glue on both sides. Aside from that, it's provided a good hold and dries fairly quickly. (not much ability to adjust once you've pressed the surfaces together, though.

I tried several other glues at the same time and had a mixed bag of results: (also left a sandwich fold of some of them out in my sunroom in the summer on a hot and humid day to test how they'd stand up to humidity)

The Elmer's No Wrinkle Glue worked ok. The glue is orange, so it's easier to see where you've applied it. It's got a wide applicator, but it's just a plastic end, so it's nothing all that special. It didn't seem to dry quite as quickly as the Scotch Glue Stick. Surprisingly, it showed the least warping to my humdity test, but still had some. It says "washable" on the tube. That worries me a bit.

UHU Twist & Glue was next. It's got a fine applicator and a "smear it all over" applicator. Easier to apply than the Scotch Glue Stick. It's decent, but didn't give me as good of hold as the others. Plus, it didn't stand up well to the humidity test. I DID use it to fix my blinds that had torn in two, however, so it ain't worthless.

I also tried an Ad Tech Glue Runner. That's one of those things that looks like a tiny tape dispenser. It's got glue on one side of the "tape" in it. This really sucked. I know some people like them for sandwich folds, but it was a pain to apply and the hold was pretty crummy. It didn't even get submitted to the humidity test.

Last was Scotch Clear Glue with 2-Way Applicator. I got this at sunraven's suggestion, as well. I like this one. It's got a fine applicator (which I almost never use) and a spongy wide applicator. Sunraven likes to use it for gluing tile wrappers 'cuz you can just smear it all around and warping isn't so much of a risk with the wrappers. I have to agree with this assessment. It's awfully easy to apply. I've used it for sandwich folds, too, and wasn't really disappointed. I have yet to use it heavily in those, however. Unfortunately, it did not get subjected to my humidity test.

I should also mention that I put the Scotch Glue Stick through the humidity test as well. It did ok, but not the best. For some reason, the Elmer's No Wrinkle faired the best there. Don't know why, 'cuz I've heard complaints about it from others on these forums. All of the glues I tested with that humidity test returned to normal shape after being brought inside and put between some heavy books for a few hours.

I'm using HP photo paper, which has an oddly smooth back. This has made edging difficult and I suspect might be a factor in my results with different glues. So, others might have different experiences with these glues.

I still have yet to try, though I've bought them: Zip Dry and Loctite Gel Super Glue. I really just got the Loctite for gluing down anchors since I'm currently using glossy photo paper. Someone else here suggested it.

Awww, I'm sorry the Scotch glue stick didn't work out for you, Nin! It remains my favorite for flat folds. The photo paper I use is double-sided and matte, so as you say, that very well could be the differentiating factor between us!

I picked up some Zip Dry at the recommendation of their rep, and I like it a lot! I've been using it on the tree builds to glue the triangular base tabs together, and to glue the paper bases to the foam core rounds. One thing I especially like about it is that if you get some oozing out between paper layers, you can just peel that off as it dries. Pretty neat, and it won't leave streaks on the printed side of the paper if you do that.

I still use the Loctite gel superglue for small fiddly bits that absolutely must not move after placement: TLX anchors, gluing branches to the large tree trunks, and so on. And I still use the Scotch clear liquid glue for making TLX tiles.

I recently picked up some sheets of craft foam and cut out some 1" circles to make bases for my paper minis, and I used my tape runner to double up the circles for a thicker base. I was worried that superglue would melt the foam, and Aileen's Tacky Glue and Zip Dry took too long to dry. The tape runner worked out surprisingly well!



I don't think there's one glue to rule them all out there, but if I had to pick, I'd probably go with the Zip Dry, as of all the adhesives I currently use, it's the most versatile. I'd hate giving up my glue stick though!

Sunraven said "I don't think there's one glue to rule them all out there, but if I had to pick, I'd probably go with the Zip Dry, as of all the adhesives I currently use, it's the most versatile. I'd hate giving up my glue stick though!"


Can you post some pictures of the product please.
I'm going to Las Vegas in April for a few days and I'm hoping to find the glue you guys have to bring home to Aust.
I get the UHU sticks here but they do warp the panels without booking then until it dry's.

many thanks.

Are you looking for just a picture of Zip Dry or for the rest of the products that we've discussed?

This is Zip Dry: http://www.beaconadhesives.com/cgzip.html

While in Las Vegas, look for either "Michaels" or "Jo-Ann." Those are two chains of craft and hobby stores, both of which carry Zip Dry.

One thing to note about zipdry:

"Always use with adequate ventilation." I do a lot of building here at work, and don't want to draw any un-necessary attention to myself