Stamp hinging video

It is always good to see how others do it.

I have used split back mounts for most of my collection and only started using hinges when I started collecting used stamps. I am remounting a collection that I had used hinges so decided to improve my skills. For 80% of the items, the stamps popped up easily from the hinges when I removed them. The rest had issues usually due to too much moisture. I had used my tongue which I find very inconsistent.

For this remount project, I use a mascara brush and a sponge. The application seems much more consistent.

I also noticed my hinges do not seem to have as long a tail as ones in the video. My hinges are 1/3 folded and 2/3 flat (side that attaches to page). The video seem to be larger.

My process at the moment.

1. Hold hinge by long side
2. Swipe tab with moistened brush
3. Apply to stamp while stamp is face down on desk
4. Fold down the back
5. Swipe with brush
6. Apply to page


As a second experiment, I have been taking splitbacks that are just over 2x the size and splitting them in half to create Hawid stamp mounts. They seem to hold stamps just as well as a hinge.

A cost for a definitive size  mount (25x25) is around 3¢ for a standard mount and around 2¢ for the half mount version (made from 57mm mounts).





I would add they are not many good stamp collecting videos on YouTube.  APS has not shown much interest with YouTube.  The last video was about a year ago and the topic was the APRL opening.  There is just one video on joining APS that runs 2 minutes and posted in 2009 with just 542 views.

Thanks to Anping for starting this thread, and to the others who have contributed to it.  I liked the video, as I think it made some good points, but personally, I use a variation on the practice shown in the video, and below is an excerpt from the book that got me started doing it that way many years ago.  Reference:  Let's Start a Stamp Collection! by John S. Turner, published by J.B. Lippincott Co., 1940.

As you can see from the posts I have made of pages from my albums, I do prefer to fold the hinge above the top edge of the stamp, which does generally tend to be perforated.  But just because I fold it there, does not mean that I would suggest moistening the hinge to include affixing it directly to the perforated part of the stamp.  I completely agree with the video that the key is not to use too much moisture and to wet only the ends of the hinge.

I find it easier to lift the hinged stamp up to a 90-degree angle to inspect the back or shine a light through to re-check the watermark by doing it this way, rather than needing to tuck the perforated portion under the hinge in order to look at the back as shown in the video.  Well, that's just my opinion....

Frankly, hinging stamps into albums is one of my least favorite stamp activities.  I have never been very satisfied with the whole hinging process, and I find other kinds of stamp mounts to be bulky and cumbersome.  I wish I didn't like the printed albums as much as I do, because then I could just arrange my stamps in stock books and be done with it!

Just as a point of interest, I would also like to note the illustration below on hinging of triangle stamps.  This is the only place that I can ever recall seeing it (but that could just be my faulty memory), and judging by the hinge marks and/or remnants on triangle stamps I have acquired, almost no one ever seems to follow this method.