Prinz Stamp Hinges Faulty

Good Morning All,

I am finding that after a short period of time the Prinz stamp hinges are basically stopping working ie stamps that were fixed and seemed secure are falling off after 1 or 2 days.
I use previously boiled water to apply hinges and do not use excessive amounts, is it potentially a faulty batch or am I doing something incorrect.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Kind Regards,

Steve

Unusual, They usually grab when incorrectly used.

Tip: ALL THEY NEED is just a tacky dab of a moist finger THAT'S ALL

When you conquer it, they should remain attached to the stamp, and peel off
effortlessly when removing, leaving a slight oblong patch on the stamp gum.

Any other result, is down to incorrect use.

Never use wet saliva or water, just a tacky feel to the tab.

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I's suggest the science behind it, is that Gum Arabic is a liquid, and at normal room temperature is stable.
With addition to moisture is begins to liquefy (humidity etc)

The gum has to remain between the stamp and the album page
Too wet and the gum enters both the stamp and the page, causing "thins" to both.
Press too hard when applying the stamp, same result.

A moist tacky application and a light press willl have a film of gum remain,
which easily peels on removal.

Hinges of steel ,I would never use Prinz Hinges they tend to pull the paper off the back of the stamp .This will cause a thin . That is why Prinz hinges are $3.00 and Dennison are $20.00 per pack .

Sounds like you just had a defective package of hinges ......just throw them out .

Oh no! Don't say that.
I'm new to collecting and just last week I bought 5 packs of these. I ran across a dealer who had them cheap and I couldn't resist. I have been using Prinz for the last year and a half and have had little trouble with them. I few stamps fell off, especially in the beginning but I put that down to operator error/incorrect application.

The hinges I have had trouble with are Supersafe. They stick better to each other then they do to the stamp or page. I threw out a lot of the pack because of this and because they were not folded in the right place if at all. I have used Dennison too and they are good.

Since all modern day hinges are manufactured and packaged for all of the hinge suppliers by one company "Prinz" there seems to be growing pieces of evidence? that quality control is problematic and a whole lot can and does happen between Germany and the final destination. Glassine quality and different sources being supplied to Prinz also appear to be mixed adding to the confusing hinge story.

Thankfully, fewer sellers are using hinges in the sales circuits I'm receiving.

Nuc5, I believe you are being cautious and not quite wetting the hinges enough, believe it or not. You haven't told us how you moisten the hinges so that's just a guess. Try rod's method. The gum used on Prinze hinges and other products like envelopes nowadays is a tropical type gum designed not to get get stuck down in storage in humid climates. It is used in every climate zone. Therefore, you have to disturb the hinge gum at least a bit in order for it to stick. The same stuff is on the regular mailing envelopes I use and if I don't make sure to fully disturb the flap gum, by the time I get to the mailbox, I can find the glue hasn't stuck the flap down. The gum probably still basically gum arabic but envelope and hinge gum have had additives over the years.

Me, I don't like Prinze hinges because I don't trust myself to do the perfect job of moisture application every single time. I'm still moving stamps from albums to stockbooks. I can wet hinges to remove them from the stamp but I'd prefer to concentrate that job on new acquisitions.

Redwoodrandy, there is another hinge-making machine somewhere. Prinze-made hinges are stacked in tens before cutting into individual hinges; DAVOs are stacked in threes before cutting - definitely not the same machine.

Just to be clear, I make no apologies using hinges,
I buy stamp album pages, 50-60 years old, on some occasions
and peel off a stamp, still looking quite fresh.

Private stamp album page made with love and attention,
boldly stripped from albums with scissors, no regard made for previous work
just the almighty $

I see stamps held long time in envelopes, bulk duplicates held by rubber bands

The ubiquitous hinge is not perfect, but it's not bad either
each to his own.

Interesting observation re:hinge machines. I have contacted DAVO for information.

Patent information from 1945 for a stamp hinge machine:

https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?docid...S=PN/2379859

Appreciate the visual.

More patent information that may be of interest:

https://patents.google.com/patent/US4921747

22Crows- That is interesting. The patent applicant specifically states that they intend to use 3M Post-It note adhesive.

I was about to write about a related Prinz issue, but - as trained - I serarched first and, wow, a post only three days ago. I have used several packages with no significant issues, however, the hinges in the most recent one I opened are discolored (like very old glassine envelopes), and if you remove one they leave a major residue on the album page - like chemicals rather than paper. For some unknown reason, luckily, they don't seem to do the same on stamps. Has anybody else ever had this experience? What gives?

Time to mount an expedition to deepest darkest Germany. Bring your 901's it could get sticky. It all hinges on you!

The investigation begins with Oktoberfest.