Mounting Mounts

As you can see, this is my first post. I've spent some weeks on this site reading previous posts in a number of threads and having many questions answered.

It has been interesting to discover that my experience is not unlike so many others. I was actively engaged with my stamp collection more than 20 years ago, then due to other responsibilities, boxed everything up and only recently pulled out my collection. A lot has changed with the internet. Then again, much has not changed.

Anyway--I have a specific inquiry that I know has been referred to in a couple of other previous posts/threads, but wanted to follow-up.

My U.S. collection is almost entirely MNH and I have used hingeless albums. Separate from the hingeless albums, I also have my own customized albums which I use for additional stamp material that do not go into the hingeless albums in which I use Showgard mounts. I am now in the process of upgrading my customized album pages.

Before I would always use a wet Q-tip to moisten the back of the mount to attach it to the album page, and then wait to be sure everything was dry before inserting my stamp.

I am thinking about using a glue stick or, alternatively, a removable adhesive (such as Tombow which has been mentioned before). I am not too concerned about the permanent nature of the adhesive, since I do not intend to remove the mount.

Do many of you find that using glue sticks or other adhesives work better than simply wetting the mount? Why? Is it simply more efficient?

Thanks.

And it is good to be part of the Community.

Welcome to the forum, Jimbo!
I collect US Transportation Coils in home made albums and use Prinz mounts. I use them with water; I am a little scared of what the glue could do to the stamps over a long period!

Peter

Just a light touch of the tounge in the center of the top flap works for me. I also already have the stamp in the mount when I do it so I'm probably living on the edge. Sometimes I wear a helmet and knee pads as well

Hi,
I've used Scotts mounts for my USA collection in the National Albums. At first I thought a damp sponge would be necessary, but quickly found it was more trouble than help (for me). Sooo, I use the ol tongue, and a light touch goes a long way. Frankly, you need your attention on that mount - and not glue sticks or sponges or whatever else. Those mounts have about a 3 second work time (if that), so you need to get it right the first time.

That's one of the very reasons why I use the Tombow Removable Adhesive cartridge. It will allow you to remove and reposition the stamp mount if you don't get it right the first time without damaging the album page.

I have seen a lot of hingeless albums where the mounts have clearly been stuck to the album leaf by over wetting the adhesive on the back, sometimes the whole of the adhesive area, resulting in unsightly buckling of the paper on the reverse side of the leaf. How do the album producers get these mounts on the page? I mentally envisage rooms full of people licking and sticking the things.

Because of this, among other reasons, I have always been put off buying hingeless albums. Maybe they are better now. And as I prefer making up my own album pages I will either use Dennison's hinges on used or MH stamps and Showgard mounts for MNH stamps. As Mike33 says, a light lick of the top edge of the mount back is all that is required. If you get it too wet, soak some spit off with a paper tissue, or wait a few seconds before sticking it to the page.

On the subject of glue and its peculiar hazards, I can highly recommend this Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger movie, "A Canterbury Tale". Intro here.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4KDtlWPP48


Terry

Like the tongue method; reminds me of the days when the only way you could stick stamps to an envelope was licking!

Hi NBSTAMPER,

Me too, definitely the best method, requiring no special kit. Queen Victoria, on being told about the new hobby of collecting postage stamps, was alleged to have remarked, "Why would people want to collect bits of coloured paper that other people have licked?" And so we moved on.

Terry

Well, it is a community and perhaps I am the contrarian, but I do not use nor mount or display any thing that damages the back of a stamp.
Could not you just as easily use a good stock album to display them?
Or the price of hinge-less pages is so inexpensive and varied.

It is just my preference. I like making my own pages which, as I do not attempt to collect everything in the catalogue, is the best option for me. I also like the traditional look of handwritten notes to support the stamps. And I like to see the stamps on the page without bits of plastic over them. For me there is no problem with putting a hinge on a stamp that has previously been hinged (after cleaning the old hinge bits off), but I will (reluctantly) use mounts for the MNH stamps.

There are schools of thought that stamp gum may well prove to be the worst thing to have on the back of a stamp and that certain plastics should never come anywhere near a stamp. Personally I would need some heavy convincing before I washed the gum of my MNH stamps. Be content with what you do, the main thing is that it please you. So it goes.

Terry

I appreciate the responses.

I had thought that in the last 20+ years that there may have been some new products that makes it easier or more efficient to attach Showgard or Scott mounts to the album page--and that is why I asked about glue sticks. If not more efficient, at least simpler or better than only wetting the back of the mount.

I should have recognized that nothing is more efficient than the tongue.

It is interesting that one person mentioned Tombow Removable Adhesive cartridge. This product was mentioned in another thread. The major advantage, it seems, is that you can re-position or even remove the mount without damaging the album page. I assume that when using the Tombow product, the attached mount looks no different from mounts that are attached with wetting the back.

That has been my experience (no different appearance than wetting the mounts). However, do be careful that you buy the removable adhesive (it's in a light green plastic cartridge). I only mention that as Tombow has a permanent adhesive product too that will hold too tight and will tear the album page if used.

As for price, you can usually get the $7 or $8 product for nearly half price if you shop the major craft store's website coupons.

Hi wt1,

Is this TomBow stuff an adhesive/glue that is dispensed? I can only find TomBow Mono dispensers online that dispense what appear to be adhesive dots/strips/patches fed out from a coil refill. Also, I checked the TomBow site but they only ship within the USA or to Canada. Looks like Amazon or the bay then. Would a glue pen be just as good? I assume you can get them with removable neutral ph glue?

Terry

Edited for typos. TC

Glue scares the heck out of me and the stamps. I don't touch the stuff but then again I'm a Newby Stamper.

Thought I would add to or respond to Tommy's post re the use of stock books. I did use Lighthouse stock books in my earlier collecting days but ran across problems in removing stamps (particularly mint stamps). They weren't stuck nor was there any gum damage but I had trouble getting the tongs under the stamps without risking some damage to the perfs. Had to resort to gently sliding a piece of thin paper under the stamp, lifting it slightly and then getting the tongs under it. Far too much trouble! And I do have good tongs!

While I usually mount the stamps in my permanent collections on grilled album pages using Lighthouse mounts, I do store a lot of stamps on Vario pages which, as you all know, are flexible. If the stamps (usually blocks or other multiples) are to be kept permanently on the Vario pages, I will usually also enclose them in a Lighthouse mount, so that they don't slide around as much on the sheets. This is an expensive way to look after stamps, so usually only the better specimens get this kind of treatment but it works for me.

I also still use the old-fashioned manilla stock pages for my used spares but I also use a lot of glassine envelopes to protect a lot of them. These manilla sheets are far easier to use than any of the more expensive stock books that I've seen but, then again, I really gave up on stock books a long time ago and maybe the technology has improved.

As an aside, I'm surprised at how expensive glassines have become.

Glassines will be costly if they are acid free. Any cellulose based non acid free glassines should be avoided.

Terry