Not all mastic guns are the same!
When dispensing materials from traditional mastic cartridges, which applicator gun do you use? There are various options with differing ‘thrust ratios’! The ‘thrust ratio’ is the gearing for the amount of effort required to dispense the material out of the tube. The higher the ratio, the easier it is to dispense the product… but it’s not quite as straightforward to simply select the highest ratio gun available. Other factors also come into the equation when choosing the ideal gun for your specific application.
We currently stock three types of mastic gun for cartridges up to 400ml, which pretty much covers most requirements:
MG1 is the entry level unit; a low-cost ‘skeleton-gun’. It doesn’t really have any features or benefits except it’s low-cost. The thrust ratio is 7:1, which is a low ratio and means that it can only really be used for low viscosity materials such as silicone sealants. Trying to dispense thicker materials would be hard work and cause straining to the hand and wrist.
MG2 is an excellent universal mastic gun with a thrust ratio of 12:1, for low to medium viscosity materials such as silicone sealants, grab adhesives, all-in-one sealants & adhesives such as Sumogrip, acrylic sealants, caulks etc. The gun is called ‘Control Flow’ as it’s fairly easy to control the flow of the material – essential for neat and accurate sealing applications. It also features a 360° swivel action barrel for easy handling in use and has a dripless design, with an auto release recoil device, for minimum mess and waste. For an all-round mastic gun when sealing and dispensing most adhesives, this is certainly the ideal product.
MG3 completes the range and has an impressive thrust ratio of 24:1, making the dispensing of thicker materials effortless and strain-free. This gun is designed for dispensing medium to high viscosity materials such as resins, adhesives, acrylic caulks and fillers. For dispensing thicker adhesives such as Sumogrip Heavyweight, this applicator gun is ideal. The gun is called ‘Extreme Force’ as it’s high ‘thrust ratio’ is perfect for ‘walloping’ material out of the cartridge. It also has a 360° swivel action barrel for easy handling in use. Word of caution though; controlling the flow is much harder with a high ratio gun, so I’d only advise using for adhesives, fillers and resins as accuracy is not essential.
Depending on application, the two guns I’d highly recommend are MG2 and MG3 – both in the Maxitek stable of quality professional and industrial products. They also feature a patented adjustable screw to cut thrust gaps and set the trigger for varying hand sizes. This enables the user to set their gun for maximum comfort and minimum fatigue. The trigger position is factory set to a medium size, so there’s an option to adjust or simply leave. For regular users of mastic guns, this adjustable facility has been warmly welcomed, making the Maxitek mastic guns their preferred choice.
For more details about the mastic gun options, click here.
Joint Managing Director, Protrade
Craig has over 30 years of experience at Protrade, working in various departments including sales, procurement, and marketing, and ultimately becoming Managing Director in 2008. Following the merger of Protrade and Joinery Fit-Out Supplies in 2018, Craig is now the joint MD of the company.
