Trimming Taller Top Opening Mounts

I'm designing my own Canadian album through 1949 using AlbumEasy and intend to use Hawid mounts. About 300 of the stamps will require 29mm mounts which will use most of two packages of strips. The other 25 or so stamps will require some seven other height mounts each of which would use only one strip from a package. Being cheap and preferring to spend my money on stamps I'm wondering whether anyone has trimmed taller top opening mounts to properly fit a smaller frame. If so, how did it work for you?

Thanks,
Terry

Get yourself a mount guillotine, well worth the initial expenditure

I agree that that will be the best tool for the job. But to reiterate, my question is regarding trimming the mount horizontally not cutting vertically to length.

Terry

I collect world wide, so speed of mounting is important.
I use generally 41mm Hawid Open top mounts for most issues.

I use and recommend the "Fiskars" "sure cut" paper trimmer.
I can cut an entire Page of stamps in a couple of minutes.
You can safely cut whilst the stamp is in the Mount, but I would practice on duplicates if you intend to follow this route.

Blades are cheap (when you can source them) and take seconds to replace.
Mine is 4 years old and still cutting fine,
The graduations have worn off through use.

Downside:
These fellows are expensive, I closed my eyes when I bought mine, but it has paid for itself many times over

I paid IIRC around $36 Aust

I just saw them on the web for $19.95

I was mounting Schleswig this morning,
threw in about 8 or 10 stamps in the strip mount, slipped it into the Fiskars
and cut to height, 1 cut, 10 stamps, then chopped them individually.

You are not going to get "Precision" if you are a perfectionist, there will always be slight angles if you are cutting down from larger mounts.
You would be better off buying "pre-cut" mounts.

(I bought $100 worth of "used mounts" really cheaply, and I cut mine down all the time)

I have 82 Pages of Canada mounted, all cut down from sundry used mounts.
This is sort of the result

I put the stamp in the mount strip, cut vertical an after horizontal, those 2 cuts take way less time than measuring the boxes. I know the boxes are 5 mm more than the stamps , so 2.5mm each size, I can guess it very well. That's allow me to keep only 3 packs of mounts on the working area.

I tend to buy a couple of sizes of mount in bulk strips and cut them down - scissors or Hawid mount-cutter as necessary. The taller bulk strips are often the same price as smaller ones. This is a GB example, but I presume that the same will apply in the US

http://www.greatbritainstamps.net/h...medium=email

I frequently cut them horizontally and vertically - I don't see what the issue is. In fact, the smaller they are the better they hold the stamp, in theory, so trimming them can't do any harm.

use clear mounts and cut them any direction you want. That would alleviate any problem with uneven heights. I've used Hawids for years and often trim them down to better fit the stamp.

Thanks to everyone for your insight. I feel more comfortable going forward based upon your input.

Terry

Hawid used to make a kit to cut down and reseal mounts if you don't like the top open. I don't know if the kit is still sold, but here's a post on the subject that I made back in 2014.

https://goscf.com/t/37811&SearchTerms=hawid

Yes, I usually buy the largest size strips for the price and cut them down using scissors (with the stamp in the mount!). Never cut a stamp yet

I'll echo the comments about clear mounts. They're much more forgiving, visually, if one or more edges isn't perfectly square, not perfectly centered within the space, or not perfectly sized. You can also mix them with hinged stamps (if one is so inclined to use this older, barbaric method) and your pages will still good.

Hi tlmcca

I have been told that the open-top mount transparent top has a slight "curl". When trimming the top of the mount this "curl" is removed and the stamp is more prone to falling out. I, personally, favor the split-back style as it is more secure.

Purchasing a guillotine to cut the mounts to width is a dollar well spent. Mine has been going for 20+ years.

Jerry B

the curl is mostly at the bottom