Hawid Top Load Mount Size Question

My question is what size do you use for a given stamp?

Example: I have a stamp that is 26mm tall. Split mounts advise adding 5mm to the actual stamp dimension to arrive at the desired mount size. Since Hawid mounts are top loading what is the conventional wisdom when choosing mount size?

My experience is it depends on paper thickness and stamp size.

If your stamp is 26mm, you should be able to simply use the 26mm mount, which is basically 4mm taller than stamp size.

Larger stamps and those on thicker paper need a taller mount (more than +4mm). For example, most US state beer stamps are on a much thicker paper than postage stamps, and they tend to ride up in the mount with time. It will make you insane. I tend to add at least 6 - 8mm for these.

As I started making my own pages, I had to learn some of these little things. I am very lucky, and get to relearn them all over again when I forget...

Many thanks StateRevs. That is very helpful!

Ditto on Rogdcam. My wife is finally getting into the hobby and I bought Hawid, for the first time, for her.

Be aware you need to play with clear vs. black mounts.

Black look great, but they are very, very difficult to line up exactly. If you have OCD, black mounts will make you crazy of the middle mount in a row is out of whack with the rest of the row.

For that reason, I use the clear mounts for my pages, and include a black frame for each stamp on the page.

> I use the clear mounts for my pages, and include a black frame for each stamp on the page.

@StateRevs - I was trying to come up with a way to do this myself. I see one specific album maker prints these around the stamp's picture ... but it would be cool to be able to pull off what you mention. Care to share any secrets? :)

I simply use Word because I am used to it.

Go to Insert.

Select Shapes.

Select a rectangle.

Right click on the rectangle.

Select Format Shape.

Select Fill, and click on No Fill.

You should have a black rectangle on your page.

Right click on it again and select Format Shape.

You should now have the ability to size the rectangle to a specific size. I add 4mm to the height of the stamp, and 5mm to the width for the black box.

Most of my tax stamps are the same size for the series, so once I get the first one, I can just copy and paste as many as I need for the page. I like white space and so do not squish everything together.

Be aware there is Album Page software available here in SCF, but I have not used it.

I print with my LaserJet on 110 pound card.

Here is an example of one of my pages for Delaware Cigar tax stamps:

I was just recently mounting some stamps, and a pack of Hawid and a pack of Uni-Safe. I too prefer the clear mounts, and I did notice that the Hawid had a slightly yellowish caste to the whereas the Uni-Safe were crystal clear. You really noticed them side by side on a white page.
You might want take that into consideration when thinking how your stamps will look in them.

If your Hawids have yellowed, I suggest they are very old.

I have found very old packs of Hawids at stores and as part of lots and they are the old packs.

New packs are not yellow at all.

Yes, card proofs come to mind here, in particular.

I like the clear Hawids myself, quite a bit.

I pretty much cut all of them to shape as needed on all three sides with a mount cutter, since most of my stamps are imperforate, and were cut haphazardly, often.