Mounted vs. Unmounted Stamps

[Emily]

When rubber stamping first started out there was basically two types of stamps, wood mounted and foam mounted. Today, there are many more choices of stamp mounts. Today the choice is usually between wood mounted (either mounted already, or mounted by you) or acrylic mounted (the stamps are unmounted until you are ready to use them). Basically it comes down to personal preference. Try both kinds and find what is right for you.

Wood Mounted

Wood mounted stamps are usually made of rubber and you will find varying quality of rubber. Poor quality rubber will dry and crack easily, while good quality rubber will remain pliable for a long time as long as the stamp is properly cared for. How do you know which stamps have good quality rubber? Ask other stampers!!

Wood mounted stamps come either already trimmed and mounted or untrimmed and unmounted. If you purchase mounted stamps make sure the image if trimmed carefully and evenly. If you choose to by unmounted stamps, you must trim them yourself.

Advantages of Wood Mounted Stamps

• If you buy unmounted stamps, you can permanently mount the stamp on the wood block where you would like it.
  
  
• Image quality seems to be better with rubber stamps than with acrylic.
  
  
• Some stampers like the feel of the wood blocks versus the acrylic blocks.
  
  
• Rubber stamps are easier to clean.
  
  
• You can line up images with a stamp positioner if needed.
  

Unmounted Stamps

Unmounted stamps are usually made of acrylic, however you can purchase unmounted rubber stamps and use them with an acrylic block system. Like rubber, there are different qualities of acrylic. Some acrylic is more pliable then others. You must buy different sizes of acrylic blocks to handle you different stamp sizes.

Advantages of Unmounted Stamps

• Unmounted stamps are less expensive since you are not paying for the wood blocks.
  
  
• Since the acrylic block is clear, you can see exactly where you are stamping your image making images easier to line-up and build designs.
  
  
• You can place several images on one acrylic block and stamp all images at once. This works great for forming words with alphabet sets.
  
  
• Unmounted stamps take up less room to store than wood mounted stamps.
  
  
• Wood mounted stamps can be converted to unmounted by removing the stamps from the wood (place stamp in microwave for a few seconds at a time until the adhesive is soft and can be removed from the wood).
  

[hashmeer]

You're like, smart and stuff. ;D

I love the acrylic stamps but I'm too lazy to stamp in general. I still buy them though and pretend I'm going to stamp.

[sassy]

I prefer acrylic stamps because you can see what you're doing and I need all the help I can get.LOL!!

Actually, my most recent stamp purchase was a wood mounted simply because it was a large stamp for an ATC Swap. Ever notice now you don't find a lot of large acrylic stamps??? Wonder why that is???

[gm1309]

Heating a wooden stamp in a microwave sounds kinda dangerous.

[sarah]

I like Mounted ones!

[Emily]

Ok so for some reason I bought this really pretty font set of stamps because it was cheap, then I got it and it was unmounted....... any Idea what I do or where I go to get stuff to mount them? Their super cute!!! Oh one more thing, their the kind you mount on wood :/

[rumorbaby]

Hey Em,

There is a product called EZ Mount, what you do is trim the unmounted stamps and then trim a piece of EZ Mount to the stamp. The EZ Mount stays on them permantently and you then can use the stamps with acrylic blocks, you may not be able to see through them but you will be able to use them just like the clear stamps.

They also sell this pages that you put in a three ring binder and you can store your unmounted stamps on them once they have been attached to the EZ Mount.

While it is kind of a pain to mount the stamps, I love the EZ Mount stuff, it works really well. I now have all my unmounted stamps stored in a binder and I catergorize them to what I consider my themes.

Hope this helps.

[Emily]

Thanks Ruby!!! I'll keep an eye out for it on my next shopping spree... .err.... I mean trip to the LSS

[stacey]

Yeah, that EZ Mount stuff is awesome! I just put all my stamps on it and got rid of the wood blocks. Three Art Bin containers now fit in a binder!!!

[sarah]

Ok, I need to break down and get some now. I bought stamps I LOVE that are unmounted. Since I've only used mounted stamps before, I'm a little lost, but hey, here's to shopping and figuring it out LOL

[lizscraps]

I have some of both, I like the acrylic ones because you see where you've been and where you're going but for big stamps it appears mounted is the only option. I've been trying to use more stamping/heat embossing and am finding it to be fun fun fun.

[1stimpressions]

I like that with the acrylic you can line the stamp back up if you didn't get a clear image the first time. Or sometimes - i line it back up to make the image darker. Plus, I like adding items that aren't in the original stamp so, being able to see through them gives me the opportunity for proper placement.

That make sense?

[luv2stampandscrap]

I have 99% wood block stamps and just a few unmounted. I had trouble with the acrylic stamps because once I stamp it, it's hard to get the stamp off my cardstock! I know it gets better the more you use them, but I'm impatient! I like the paper salon unmounted stamps too, they are red rubber with probably ez mount on the back. I guess I'm going to have to stick with the mounted since that's what I have the most of, but I do like the ability to see through the acrylic! As far as proper placement, I use a stamp a ma jig for my wood block stamps! It's a lifesaver!

[lovescrapping]

I have about 90 mounted sets of SU wood mounted stamps. I am so out of room in my scraproom that I decided to unmount my stamps and save them in binders. I bought some EZMount and am very happily unmounting my stamps and recovering my scrapping table space. I have been able to unmount approximately 4 sets depending on size per set/ per every EZMount sheet. I had purchased 100 sheets of EZMount thinking I would need 1 sheet per set, boy, was I wrong!
Anyway, I prefer the rubber that comes with SU stamps but prefer them unmounted since I can trim closer and thru the acrylic see where I am stamping!

If you want information on how to unmount check Sundayint.com
;D

[lizscraps]

Jessica,
I don't have that many stamps (yet lol) but have seen this discussion in a number of places and have been considering puchasing the larger acrylic blocks and doing this. It is easier to place the stamps being able to see where you're going
hmmmm thinking