Black or clear mounts, Hawid or Showgard?

Hi, All
The subject says it all - I've got a collection needs re-mounting. Opinions etc please on whether the open top Hawid
mounts or split back Showgard / Scott are better as well as the relative merits of black and clear (most dealers seem to
stock only the black these days).
Cheers - John

John Mycroft wrote:
The subject says it all - I've got a collection needs re-mounting.
Opinions etc please on whether the open top Hawid mounts or split back
Showgard / Scott are better as well as the relative merits of black and
clear (most dealers seem to stock only the black these days).
Cheers - John

My preference is for clear Showgard. In my experience stamps can work
their way out of the open-top mounts.

If you use black mounts, the page looks gloomy if you use oversize
ones - but you have to be careful with perfs if you use the right
size. With clear, I routinely use 1mm oversize - or more, which saves
stocking every single size.

But all these mounts are too expensive for common used stamps - unless
you're happy for the mount to be worth more than the stamp.

Colin McKenzie

--
No-one has ever proved that cycle helmets make cycling any safer at
the population level, and anyway cycling is about as safe per mile as
walking.
Make an informed choice - visit www.cyclehelmets.org.

Thanks, Colin
I agree with you about the black mounts looking gloomy - I think most hingeless albums on the market use clear mounts.
The collection in question is all mint, mostly hinged but with a fair number of MNH so I want all the stamps to be
mounted the same. Most of the stamps are worth quite a bit more than the mounts, too - never ceases to amaze me the
number of CTO jam labels I see mounted in many dollars worth of mounts.
Cheers - John

In article ,
Sir F. A. Rien wrote:

John Mycroft found these unused words:

Hi, All
The subject says it all - I've got a collection needs re-mounting. Opinions
etc please on whether the open top Hawid
mounts or split back Showgard / Scott are better as well as the relative
merits of black and clear (most dealers seem to
stock only the black these days).
Cheers - John

Open top leaves three means for the stamp to slide out and get lost -=or=-
you jam it down to get some grip from the one pressure point.

For me, Black, as it shows off the stamps, clear shows off your album paper.

So Showgard Black.

See philately.ttrr.org, the GB section and some sample pages.

Hi John

I've no opinion on Hawid or Showguard as I use Lighthouse and find them
satisfactory. I do no find stamps falling out of them. Could Hawid and
Lighthouse be the same product?

For color, if you are making your own album then I'd agree with our Lord
of Nothing (rien in French is a translation of nothing) and say black is
the way to go, as far as you are not cramming pages with stamps, then it
gets somber. You will also need to write whatever info outside the
mount area. I was going to say above or below, but left or right is
also allowable! So, outside it is.

However, if you are using a pre-printed album, transparent is the ONLY
way to go. Ever handled a pre-printed album with page after page of
black mounts? I often have to my despair. The pages are jammed with
black and you are never again be able to tell what's what.

Don't forget: only a small area of the mount need be stuck to the page
and more is NOT better! There has been a useful discussion on affixing
mounts a few months ago, Look it up in Google or any other RCSD archive.

Good luck and don't forget to tell us about your choices and the results.

Best regards

Richard

--
Pour repondre en perso inserer r devant mon nom et retrancher /invalid
To answer directly, insert r in front of my name and drop /invalid

On Jul 17, 5:04 pm, John Mycroft wrote:
Hi, All
The subject says it all - I've got a collection needs re-mounting. Opinions etc please on whether the open top Hawid
mounts or split back Showgard / Scott are better as well as the relative merits of black and clear (most dealers seem to
stock only the black these days).
Cheers - John

Hi John,

I prefer Showgard over Scott or Prinz. I feel that the Showgard
mounts are a little heavier than the others and I prefer that feel.
As for black or clear background, that is a personal preference. I
use black mounts and, like Colin, I try to use a mount a little
'taller' than the item being placed into the mount. In addition I
also make the 'width' at least 3mm wider than the stamp measured from
perf tip to perf tip ( I was once told that the welds are about 1.5mm
each and the 3 mm makes for an even margin around the stamp ). The
open top Hawid mount works fine for small material and I have used
them for that purpose. Large material tends to 'fall out' of the
mount.

Regarding Colin's comment about expense using mounts for common used
stamps. I use mounts for everything since it makes a page look
uniform. I will say though that my collections are mostly mint ,
except for classic issues, so it is not an issue.

Jerry Bodoff

There was an article a while back in one of the philatelic
publications (possibly the AP) that talked how mounts can shrink over
time, especially when exposed to heat (I believe as low as 80
degrees). I use the clear Showguard mounts but ensure that there is 1
to 2 mm extra height just to be on the safe side.

Ian Gibson-Smith

John--I buy whatever company's product a dealer may have available when I need to restock. I have standardized on clear
mounts as I occasionally weaken and create an exhibit for a club show. Because judges want color only to emphasize
important items, most stamps in my exhibits are in clear mounts. Using the same "color" for album mounts saves keeping
separate stocks of mounts.

--
Stan Fairchild
P.O. Box 26354
Fairview Park, OH 44126
U.S.A.

áâäàåçéêëèíîïìñóöúû ?
"John Mycroft" wrote in message ...
Hi, All
The subject says it all - I've got a collection needs re-mounting. Opinions etc please on whether the open top Hawid
mounts or split back Showgard / Scott are better as well as the relative merits of black and clear (most dealers seem
to stock only the black these days).
Cheers - John

There may be a few judges who are prejudiced against black
mounts, but most aren't. I know because all of my exhibits
which contain stamps use black Hawids, and I've specifically
asked the judges if that bothered them. Nobody has ever
said yes.

I'm also a judge, and the only thing that would bother me
about black mounts would be if the mounts weren't trimmed
to within 1 or 2 mm of the stamps. Then the black mounts
detract from the stamps.

Note that with Showgard style mounts, it is not always
possible to get them to fit that closely. One thing you
can do in that situation is to take a mount twice as big
as you need and cut it in half horizontally - thus making
two "Hawids" from one Showgard.

If I were starting over today I would probably go with
clear Hawids. However, years ago I bought out a dealer's
stock of black Hawids,and I've stuck with them ever since.
They do make the perfs stand out nicely.

Also, in the last couple of years or so, I've started to
use removeable double-sided Scotch tape to affix the mounts
to a page. Then if I have to re-do a page, I just pop the
mount off the old page and press it onto the new page. I
only use a small piece of tape per mount, and so far I have
not observed any ill effects.

Jay Carrigan change domain to mchsi
www.jaypex.com


In article ,
says...

John--I buy whatever company's product a dealer may have available when I
need t
o restock. I have standardized on clear
mounts as I occasionally weaken and create an exhibit for a club show.
Because
judges want color only to emphasize
important items, most stamps in my exhibits are in clear mounts. Using the
same
"color" for album mounts saves keeping
separate stocks of mounts.

--
Stan Fairchild
P.O. Box 26354
Fairview Park, OH 44126
U.S.A.

áâäàåçéêëèíîïìñóöúû ?
"John Mycroft" wrote in message
news:K8ani.59$wV4.0@bignew
s2.bellsouth.net...
Hi, All
The subject says it all - I've got a collection needs re-mounting.
Opinions e
tc please on whether the open top Hawid
mounts or split back Showgard / Scott are better as well as the relative
merit
s of black and clear (most dealers seem
to stock only the black these days).
Cheers - John

Jay--thanks for your input. Like you, I have acquired dealers close out stock of mounts. As they were clear mounts, I
probably won't switch to black, but I will revise my annual "How to Exhibit at Cuy-Lor" presentation.

Also like you, I have stopped automatically licking the back of the mount when putting an item in an exhibit. I've been
using stamp hinges, but the double-sided tape seems like a better idea. I do that to be able to reuse the mount and
thus reduce the cost. It's much more fun to spend money on stamps than on mounts.

Stan

"Jay T. Carrigan" wrote in message news:75Vni.33214$Fc.4077@attbi_s21...
There may be a few judges who are prejudiced against black
mounts, but most aren't. I know because all of my exhibits
which contain stamps use black Hawids, and I've specifically
asked the judges if that bothered them. Nobody has ever
said yes.

I'm also a judge, and the only thing that would bother me
about black mounts would be if the mounts weren't trimmed
to within 1 or 2 mm of the stamps. Then the black mounts
detract from the stamps.

Note that with Showgard style mounts, it is not always
possible to get them to fit that closely. One thing you
can do in that situation is to take a mount twice as big
as you need and cut it in half horizontally - thus making
two "Hawids" from one Showgard.

If I were starting over today I would probably go with
clear Hawids. However, years ago I bought out a dealer's
stock of black Hawids,and I've stuck with them ever since.
They do make the perfs stand out nicely.

Also, in the last couple of years or so, I've started to
use removeable double-sided Scotch tape to affix the mounts
to a page. Then if I have to re-do a page, I just pop the
mount off the old page and press it onto the new page. I
only use a small piece of tape per mount, and so far I have
not observed any ill effects.

Jay Carrigan change domain to mchsi
www.jaypex.com


In article ,
says...

John--I buy whatever company's product a dealer may have available when I
need t
o restock. I have standardized on clear
mounts as I occasionally weaken and create an exhibit for a club show.
Because
judges want color only to emphasize
important items, most stamps in my exhibits are in clear mounts. Using the
same
"color" for album mounts saves keeping
separate stocks of mounts.

--
Stan Fairchild
P.O. Box 26354
Fairview Park, OH 44126
U.S.A.

áâäàåçéêëèíîïìñóöúû ?
"John Mycroft" wrote in message
news:K8ani.59$wV4.0@bignew
s2.bellsouth.net...
Hi, All
The subject says it all - I've got a collection needs re-mounting.
Opinions e
tc please on whether the open top Hawid
mounts or split back Showgard / Scott are better as well as the relative
merit
s of black and clear (most dealers seem
to stock only the black these days).
Cheers - John

Thanks all - lots of helpful opinions: some to value, some to ignore :}

In the interests of convenience (I have only one stamp shop within sensible "popping out" distance), I have decided to
go with black Showgards. I think the pre-cut sizes are too wide with too much of a margin - they swamp the early US
airmails and so I am cutting my own from strips which probably works out cheaper per mount if a bit more work. I use a
sliding blade cutter from our local hobby store rather than a guillotine, largely because there was one already at home.
I'm being careful about shrinkage of the mounts - there are many stamps in this collection that have suffered from the
original Crystal Mounts shrinking: I hope I will be able to rescue them all. It's a pity they use such industrial
strength glue on the mounts, though - once they're in, they are there for the duration.

This particular collection is on pre-printed Scott album pages which can look crowded when they lay out 6 stamps across
the page - cutting your own mounts does give you a bit of white space between. It also means I don't have much room for
shades, varieties etc but, where I have a large number of those, I just add an extra page which I print or write up
myself. My other collection is on home made pages so I can spread out all over the place.

I cringe at the thought of double sided tape but realise that that is just for exhibiting which I don't do largely
because I don't want to have to follow "the rules" in my spare time.

Cheers - John