Science help! Any body know any heat resistant objects that can me found at home or bought at a low price?

Well for a project in Geometry we are supposed to be making a T.P.S model. Its a wooden dowel and a nail glued to the end. When we place to nail up to a touch blower it takes about 33 seconds to melt the glue and the nail to fall off. Our job is to build a outer shell to slow down the process of the heat reaching the nail and melting the glue. The nail is about 4 inches long and you cant touch the wooden dowel or glue anything to the TPS. What materials could I use that are heat resistant to keep the nail from melting the glue without going over the budget?