Stamp Hinge Brands And Quality

Has anybody a recommendation for a brand of hinges? Safest? Best adhesion?

Plenty of discussion of this in the recent past:
https://goscf.com/t/11321
https://goscf.com/t/6902
The Dennison hinges are the gold standard, are not made anymore but old packages are available at a premium.

All the current brands of hinges are made by the same company. They will adhere forever if you're not truly careful and can thin stamps and album pages when careless removal is attempted. I have a new current favorite of that group that I will not mention for the sneering it will generate here.

I encourage everyone to contact Prinz the sole manufacturer of all hinges produced today about their products and production methods and packaging of all the various brands.

http://prinzuk.co.uk/search?control...rch&s=hinges

Given the prices paid for old Dennison's, maybe highlighting this to Prinz would provide an economic incentive for them to improve, and charge more, for hinges.

Depends on the prices being paid for old Dennisons; and also the similar Fold-O-Hinges. I've seen reports here of people paying in the mid 20s (dollars) or even more. I got my dozen packages for an average of around $13-14. Still double plus the price for a package of Prinz.

You can buy 10,000 Prinz hinges for £20, which would buy a packet or two of vintage hinges. Scary.

I am once again taking up the search for a definitive answer from Prinz on the subject of the various brands of hinges they package. Comments from a well respected forum member necessitates the action.

My first hurdle is that Prinz of Germany no longer has a viable email address that I can find. I have contacted Prinz Publications of the UK. Will report back.

I find that puzzling, this one of the best forums on the internet for courtesy.
With a very balanced moderating group.
I'd be very disappointed to read sneering here.

As others have already mentioned, all modern hinges are the same, regardless of the brand name on the package. They're tolerable if you use the least amount of moisture necessary to make it adhere to the stamp and no more. Fully moistening them will make them essentially impossible to remove without damaging the stamp.

You'd have to admit the bar is set a little low overall nowadays and I've seen many a forum die because the lunatics took over the asylum. There are still always one or two yobbos that like to blow smoke out of their [ ]s, as in the last discussion about hinges. I do realize that hinges are (curiously) a volatile subject, but I see a negative change in general attitude around here in the last year.

redwoodrandy, typically, there still seems to relative differences (albeit often small) from brand to brand, namely the glassine stock used. As mentioned before, I would hate to think the different papers were due to only one huge batch being made per brand with a different paper being available for each run. But it could be possible. Otherwise, the glassine stock seems to be provided/ordered by the seller but all else would generally be handled by Prinz. The stock used for Prinz hinges has been remarkably consistent over the years.

redwoodrandy and rod222, if you care to do a test of several different brands, email me with your addresses and I will send you a small sample of each of the (I think) 5 brands that I have plus old Dennisons as a benchmark. You can post your thoughts or not as you like.

One question I had was whether Prinz operates a higher quality control for Lighthouse or Lindner - eg do you get the packets full of curled, scrunched hinges irrespective of brand, or is there a better and worse product, as in factories making ready meals for different supermarkets?

Unfortunately, the curling and scrunching seems to be (almost) ubiquitous. The best seller idea I've seen was vacuum-packing multiple packs of hinges for shipping, with hinges arriving nice and flat. However, once out of vacuum-packing, they all soon curled up. I'm guessing that the thick gum and even low humidity has a lot to do with that. And in my opinion, Lighthouse and Lindner hinges are nothing special out of the possibilities.

Per angore, one wonders what improved production and paying slightly more for a package would get us.

I have used Prinz for at least 5 years, I find them fine, if you hinge correctly.
Weather conditions affect them, it was 43C degrees here yesterday (110F) 47% humidity.
I have a bowl of curled Prinz. But that's OK, easily manipulated by long, pointy nose tweezers.

I have asked Prinz at least 6-8 times all of these questions as they have been brought up over the years. Does Prinz manufacture all modern day hinges? Answer yes. Is the glassine all the same? Answer yes. Is the glue all the same? Answer yes. Are the hinges packaged for the various brands all the same? Answer yes.

I await to hear from Prinz Publications UK as I no longer can contact Prinz Germany.

I no longer use hinges. When and if I did use hinges they were Dennison.

Let the Davo vs Prinz and Prinz vs Davo hinge challenge begin.

Spelling correction: glassine

The Prinz hinges and their clones are not impossible, just too finicky. rod, you have more patience than I do. And if one of the modern hinges isn't coming off a stamp, a little water carefully applied with an artist's paintbrush will release it. The hinged stamps I've been buying from Europe all have modern hinge remnants. Glad they didn't try to remove them, but they still need to be removed -- They're pretty thick and any hinges below it need to be removed, too.

Since the current hinges are cut in stacks, I press out the crease/fold before using a hinge. That will also hopefully show when I have grabbed 2 stacked hinges instead of one.

Not patience HB, just the only local choice here.
I am open to change, Davo you say? I'll do a search, and try them.
Impressed with other Davo products I have used.

With a stack of Prinz, curly or not, I fold lengthwise in half with the long pointies, then drop them on the table, from 6 inches or so, they usually separate, ready for use.