Super Cheap Spider Webs

[marcus132]

I'm sure most of you are familiar with Scary Terry's Hot Glue Gun Web Shooter (http://www.scary-terry.com/ggshooter/ggshooter.htm) and the commercial guns with similar specs.

Unfortunately, if you're like me, you're not going to buy an expensive professional air compressor just to make spider webs. Fortunately, you don't have to!

This weekend I tried an experiment using just a regular hot glue gun and my girlfriend's hair dryer. I just turned the dryer on maximum power and then squeezed a bead of glue in front of the nozzle. The dryer did a pretty good job throwing the stream of glue outward and over my props.

The relatively low air pressure did result in some glue clumps that needed to be picked off the webbed objects, but overall it turned out pretty well.

This technique certainly won't put the web gun manufacturers out of business, but if you don't have a lot of money or the proper tools, it gets the job done. :jol:

[Sickie Ickie]

That sounds really neat Marcus. Do you have pics?

[berzerkmonkey]

Another option that I've seen floating around is to use a can of compressed air (like for computer dusting) to throw the webbing.

Just recently I saw an ad for a compressor / finishing nailer combo that was a really good price. If I remember where I saw it, I'll post a link.

I got lucky myself - my father-in-law left me a compressor so he doesn't have to lug his around if he comes over to do any work on our house. Next year, I'll have me a web gun ready for Halloween!

[marcus132]

That sounds really neat Marcus. Do you have pics?

Oh... yeah. Better late than never, right? ;-)

http://www.marcusalexanderhart.com/lj/080324spiderwebs.jpg

[Gory Corey]

Pretty cool, did it take very long to web that?

[Sickie Ickie]

Looks good, man! :)

[marcus132]

Pretty cool, did it take very long to web that?

Nope, just a few seconds.

Since the air flow is relatively weak and inconsistent, it's literally hit or miss trying to do webs this way. You just kind of put your prop on the table, aim the dryer and gun at it, move your arms back and forth and hope for the best. :jol:

[Frighteners Entertainment]

I've seen small pancake compressors for about $42 at lowes.

[dave the dead]

Last year I webbed a few props in my yard by dripping the glue over the prop on a windy day......lol
Now THAT's CHEAP!

[Lilly]

marcus it looks good.

dave that sure is cheap my kinda prop.

which glue sticks di you use marcus the minis or the bigger ones
i have both but i dont like my gun for the big ones it doesnt have a low heat onit.

[marcus132]

which glue sticks di you use marcus the minis or the bigger ones

I use the big ones.

I have a gun that uses the smaller sticks too, but it's really crappy. It doesn't get hot enough to get the glue flowing nicely.

[Lilly]

ok thanks then my big gun would work great it gets really hot.
I do have a web shooter bu tno compressor yet wahhh

[beelce]

That is a good look

[Pavitti]

I imagine if a hairdryer works, so would an electric airbed pump. Which also has a tiny nossle for more precise direction.

[howlin mad jack]

I wonder if my airbrush would work for this?

[Bone Dancer]

Maybe on of those 12v air compressor that you plug into a car cig lighter.

[Chuck]

I made my own web shooter based on scary terry and tried to use it with a small 6 gal pancake compressor and it works....for about 1 minute and then you have to wait for the tank to fill again. Even if you dial down the pressure to about 40psi (any lower and you won't have enough volume to throw the glue). Since it is only 3.2 cfm's, it doesn't produce enough air to recover fast enough. At least for me it didn't.

I ended up using an electric airbed pump. I covered 100 feet of fencing in about 10 minutes with it.

[fontgeek]

I wonder if my airbrush would work for this?

The air-jet portion of this is the easy part, it's the volume and pressure of air your compressor can put out. Trying to run molten glue stick through your airbrush might work for a few seconds, but then your airbrush would be full of a rock hard glue that would end the airbrush's life. Don't waste a great tool like an airbrush for this.

[marsh28]

I wonder if my airbrush would work for this?

I actually make webs by dripping hot glue in front of my airbrush. Works perfectly.

[marsh28]

Has anybody ever used rubber cement to spin webs?

[Dixie]

No, but the DJ on my radio station was talking about it this morning, as if he had never heard of the glue gun trick.... he said that the rubber cement works really well. (He brought it up because he saw the web spinner Spirit has out this year, and announced it was an automatic gun of rubber cement like he used to use in the "good ol' days", hehe)

[Jaybo]

Has anybody ever used rubber cement to spin webs?

I have not actually used rubber cement. I've read it works great indoors, but won't hold up outdoors.

[debbie5]

I posted this before but I will again: I use a can of compressed air (like you use to blow dust out of your keyboard) and held the tip right next to my glue gun as I squeezed the trigger. I don't know if it works on large areas, but worked great on a basket. I dusted it with talcum powder to bring it out more & reduce shine. So, I would guess an airbrush tip would work just as well.

[randomr8]

I tried the blow dryer and glue gun combo just now. It's really quite good and alot more fun than spreading the bagged stuff. I had a couple of kids out there while I was doing it, they wanted to try. Coolness.

[MapThePlanet]

I'm with Pavitti, the air bed pumps work great. Smaller, more direct airflow. and a word on rubber cement, yes it does work and look cool, but remember it IS flammable when wet

[Bethene]

hummmm interesting,,, worth looking into!

[Spooky D]

I just built one for my compressor. Slinging the webs around is the most fun thing ever. I covered everything in webs, even part of my car.

[samseide]

I tried the rubber cement cobwebs. They look great. I shot them outside, went inside for a minute, came back out and they were gone. So...probably only good for indoor props.