Paste adhesives spatulas

Independent of final adhesive viscosity, hand application, by spatula, palette knife or trowel, is often the favoured method. However, once mixed, low viscosity adhesives are frequently pumped to an applicator gun, which is often robotically controlled. Higher viscosity paste adhesives can make use of hand-held cartridge dispensers which not only mix the adhesive, as indicated above, but also can apply a bead or stripe of adhesive to the substrate, dependant on the design of the applicator head. 

Thermosetting adhesives are typically available in liquid, paste, and solid forms. The liquid form is generally one- or two-part system which may contain solid fillers and colorants. The paste form typically exhibits flow behavior different from those of the unfilled or highly filled liquids. Certain pastes are modified to be thixotropic, which are gel-like materials at rest but act as fluid when agitated. Possession of such solid-like yielding behavior allows an unstrained mass of adhesive not to sag or flow unless forced to do so by mechanical action, such as by spreading with a spatula. 

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