Removing Booklet Panes From The Booklet

I have purchased booklet panes that were so pristine that they looked as though they were never part of an actual booklet. However, I once butchered a booklet pane with an exacto knife while trying to separate it (with selvage) from the other panes in the booklet. I've never tried since, and nearly all the booklet panes spaces in my albums are blank! What is the correct technique for separating the panes in a booklet??

I realize now that I should have posted this under modern stamps. I am not referring to old booklets; I assume they should always be left intact. I am concerned with the newer(post 1950's) booklet panes.

Use the link Send Note To Staff toa sk them to move the topic to the correct forum.

I am not sure myself but would putting the booklet in the freezer 'pop' loose the pane? Not sure what freezing does to stamps or booklet though.

Exacto knife?!? Yikes, that's the problem! There are old panes that were stapled together and can be easily separated by simply removing the staples, and modern panes of self-adhesives where the whole pane is the booklet. I assume you are referring to the water-activated stamps of the booklets that were "glued" together. My strategy for removing an intact pane is gentle patience. I use one blade of round tip tongs, NOT pointed tongs! Then I gently slide the tongs between the layers and seek the path of least resistance. If I encounter strong resistance, I approach from another directions for a while to work the layers free from each other. It's the same process as carefully removing a showguard mount from an album page without damaging either. Very slowly. Lots of patience. And if you are starting with a booklet with two panes, you can save the best and use the rest for postage!

Thanks larsdog. I just purchased a complete booklet of the 1987, "Drafting of the Constitution" issue. I will try your method of separating the panes when it arrives. I need one pane and one each of the five singles to fill the spaces in my album. I figure I'll at least end up with the singles and postage, even if I manage to ruin the pane!

Thanks too, Puzzler. I also wonder if freezing would make the separation easier, but with water activated glue, I don't think so. If I do OK with larsdog's advice, I may freeze the remainder of the booklet as an experiment.