Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Thanks in advance.
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Why bother with mathematical formulas?
Just buy the right tools!
I have been using the figure below for more than 40 years (and still do) and it cost 2 dimes.
This picture has been scaled to 600 x 1171 otherwise I could not upload it here.
So you can not use this
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Hockeynut
Thanks for responding.
1) Humor me....I was an auditor in my work life. Always looked to substantiate numbers with as much evidence as I could get my hands on. Having the math formula is one.
2) Where did you get that? I haven't seen any that go down to 1/4.
Thanks again/John
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the Linn's plastic scale goes way down, Limbo down
I paid $4 a while ago. I like it because it overlays and i can see the notches over the holes
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I like the Scott/Linn's Multi-gauge and works in 0.1 increments.
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Hello BigCreekDad
I do not know if you can read german but on ebay germany 3 euros :
https://www.ebay.de/itm/193756047059?has ...
or a fancy one :
https://www.ebay.de/p/1859485642?iid=162 ...
or for you not so far away (Hamburg Pennsylvania)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/264250664477
Just look via your browser on "STAMP PERFORATION GAUGE"
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I have 2 or 3 White Ace black aluminum gauges, one of which, I got as a kid. That was a time when the locally owned drug store carried small packets of stamps and supplies. 99 percent of the time, it does the job. I would sure like to have one of the ones above that does increments of .25 though.
There was a thread about stamp tongs a while back. My preference is the spade type with an angle at the bottom. This week, I noticed that the bottom spade has been used so much that it is sharp enough to cut you! I guess that I have had that pair for a while. It my be time for a new pair along with one of the gauges above.
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Does no one know the secret mat formula?
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The math formula for measuring perfs can be found with a google search or was even spelled out in one of the Hipstamo forums very recently.
Perhaps no one, including myself, wants to give it up because nobody uses it - and if you get the stamp expertised or sell it to someone they will use one of the many excellent tried and true gauges shown above to "be certain". Somewhat akin to giving medical advice when one is not a doctor.
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Please post the info to this thread.
Searching for "math formula for measuring perfs" in Google gives me nothing related to stamp collecting, and DuckDuckGo returns this thread as the first result.
Thanks,
Josh
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Webpaper....not really sure what you are trying to convey.
I see Josh had same search results as I.
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John,
First - I don't recall what the formula is because I would never use it when accurate gauges are available. I believe Scott covered it in one of his answers regarding perforations on Hipstamp. I am not going to go back and search through the threads for an answer I don't need. If you have a gauge and a ruler you can mathematically derive the formula using "old" math.
Second, you just asked the same question on Hipstamp and Greg replied - "John, check the front of your Scott (or Gibbons or most others) catalog for a discussion of perforations. Good resource you already have I believe."
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This was a good thread with lots of images of various gauges. I ultimately decided mine was missing the 15.25 notation, though the line was there. I tend to use the outer scales with the stamp face down, more than the graded lines.
https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_ma ...
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Geesh.......Web, I was not expecting anyone to do any research at all. If someone knew the formula, I was hoping they could share it. That's all. Frankly, I'm curious just to work the numbers. Is that so crazy?
As for my post on HS, I placed it after I had no responses here with the formula.
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https://www.google.com/search?client=fir ...
(Modified by Moderator on 2023-01-23 05:53:16)
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Thanks oldguy -
I knew it involved 2 centimeters but couldn't remember the rest.
I did find this neat electronic perforation gauge that measures to the 1/100 of a mm. Oddly the result it displays is rounded to the nearest 1/4 so not sure what the $700 retail price gains in accuracy over the Multi gauge.
https://brooklyngallery.com/stamp-access ...
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I do not want to beat a dead horse--since the question now has been answered. However, for those interested in an inexpensive straightforward gauge that measures in increments of 0.1, from 9.8-18.2, Unitrade of Canada's "Perfect Gauge" is an option that meets my needs (except for some items with a smaller range of perfs on coils and rouletted issues.
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As I see the do the math method is very imprecise. If I want to know between a 10.9 perf vs 11.1 perf, the math approach is not good enough.
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I've always used SG's plastic "Instanta" perf gauge:
This works well for me.
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SG's "Instanta" gauge and Unitrade's "Perfect" gauge appear to be the same identical product, just produced in two different countries.
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I also generally use the SG "Instanta" perf gauge which I find works very well, however when it is not to hand, I often use the maths (not math, mathematics is plural) method which can give an accurate result.
All that is necessary is a ruler graduated in mm, preferably with ½mm marks. Count several whole perfs and then measure the distance over which the perfs have been counted
Given that perfs are specified over a distance of 20mm then the formula is:
perf=count*20/distance;
e.g
in the above example, 9 whole perfs measure 12.75mm.
perf=9*20/12.75 => perf 14
as the ruler is only graduated in ½mm units, one has to estimate the ¼mm, so the longer the distance over which the perfs are counted the more accurate the results.
Clive
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I have the SG Instanta as well....
My go-to preference, however is this one;
An excellent gauge that hasn't ever failed me. 
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Can someone explain this? And is it more accurate than the standard gauges? I have a 3 cent small queen that I think is 12 1/4 horizontally, but want to be certain.
Thanks in advance.
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re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
Why bother with mathematical formulas?
Just buy the right tools!
I have been using the figure below for more than 40 years (and still do) and it cost 2 dimes.
This picture has been scaled to 600 x 1171 otherwise I could not upload it here.
So you can not use this
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
Hockeynut
Thanks for responding.
1) Humor me....I was an auditor in my work life. Always looked to substantiate numbers with as much evidence as I could get my hands on. Having the math formula is one.
2) Where did you get that? I haven't seen any that go down to 1/4.
Thanks again/John
Login to Like
this post
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
the Linn's plastic scale goes way down, Limbo down
I paid $4 a while ago. I like it because it overlays and i can see the notches over the holes
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
I like the Scott/Linn's Multi-gauge and works in 0.1 increments.
Login to Like
this post
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
Hello BigCreekDad
I do not know if you can read german but on ebay germany 3 euros :
https://www.ebay.de/itm/193756047059?has ...
or a fancy one :
https://www.ebay.de/p/1859485642?iid=162 ...
or for you not so far away (Hamburg Pennsylvania)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/264250664477
Just look via your browser on "STAMP PERFORATION GAUGE"
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this post
08:06:47am
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
I have 2 or 3 White Ace black aluminum gauges, one of which, I got as a kid. That was a time when the locally owned drug store carried small packets of stamps and supplies. 99 percent of the time, it does the job. I would sure like to have one of the ones above that does increments of .25 though.
There was a thread about stamp tongs a while back. My preference is the spade type with an angle at the bottom. This week, I noticed that the bottom spade has been used so much that it is sharp enough to cut you! I guess that I have had that pair for a while. It my be time for a new pair along with one of the gauges above.
Login to Like
this post
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
Does no one know the secret mat formula?
Login to Like
this post
11:13:24am
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
The math formula for measuring perfs can be found with a google search or was even spelled out in one of the Hipstamo forums very recently.
Perhaps no one, including myself, wants to give it up because nobody uses it - and if you get the stamp expertised or sell it to someone they will use one of the many excellent tried and true gauges shown above to "be certain". Somewhat akin to giving medical advice when one is not a doctor.
Login to Like
this post
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
Please post the info to this thread.
Searching for "math formula for measuring perfs" in Google gives me nothing related to stamp collecting, and DuckDuckGo returns this thread as the first result.
Thanks,
Josh
Login to Like
this post
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
Webpaper....not really sure what you are trying to convey.
I see Josh had same search results as I.
Login to Like
this post
12:56:23pm
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
John,
First - I don't recall what the formula is because I would never use it when accurate gauges are available. I believe Scott covered it in one of his answers regarding perforations on Hipstamp. I am not going to go back and search through the threads for an answer I don't need. If you have a gauge and a ruler you can mathematically derive the formula using "old" math.
Second, you just asked the same question on Hipstamp and Greg replied - "John, check the front of your Scott (or Gibbons or most others) catalog for a discussion of perforations. Good resource you already have I believe."
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
This was a good thread with lots of images of various gauges. I ultimately decided mine was missing the 15.25 notation, though the line was there. I tend to use the outer scales with the stamp face down, more than the graded lines.
https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_ma ...
Login to Like
this post
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
Geesh.......Web, I was not expecting anyone to do any research at all. If someone knew the formula, I was hoping they could share it. That's all. Frankly, I'm curious just to work the numbers. Is that so crazy?
As for my post on HS, I placed it after I had no responses here with the formula.
Login to Like
this post
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
https://www.google.com/search?client=fir ...
(Modified by Moderator on 2023-01-23 05:53:16)
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this post
08:32:56pm
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
Thanks oldguy -
I knew it involved 2 centimeters but couldn't remember the rest.
I did find this neat electronic perforation gauge that measures to the 1/100 of a mm. Oddly the result it displays is rounded to the nearest 1/4 so not sure what the $700 retail price gains in accuracy over the Multi gauge.
https://brooklyngallery.com/stamp-access ...
Login to Like
this post
11:23:53pm
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
I do not want to beat a dead horse--since the question now has been answered. However, for those interested in an inexpensive straightforward gauge that measures in increments of 0.1, from 9.8-18.2, Unitrade of Canada's "Perfect Gauge" is an option that meets my needs (except for some items with a smaller range of perfs on coils and rouletted issues.
Login to Like
this post
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
As I see the do the math method is very imprecise. If I want to know between a 10.9 perf vs 11.1 perf, the math approach is not good enough.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
I've always used SG's plastic "Instanta" perf gauge:
This works well for me.
Login to Like
this post
01:09:29pm
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
SG's "Instanta" gauge and Unitrade's "Perfect" gauge appear to be the same identical product, just produced in two different countries.
Login to Like
this post
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
I also generally use the SG "Instanta" perf gauge which I find works very well, however when it is not to hand, I often use the maths (not math, mathematics is plural) method which can give an accurate result.
All that is necessary is a ruler graduated in mm, preferably with ½mm marks. Count several whole perfs and then measure the distance over which the perfs have been counted
Given that perfs are specified over a distance of 20mm then the formula is:
perf=count*20/distance;
e.g
in the above example, 9 whole perfs measure 12.75mm.
perf=9*20/12.75 => perf 14
as the ruler is only graduated in ½mm units, one has to estimate the ¼mm, so the longer the distance over which the perfs are counted the more accurate the results.
Clive
Login to Like
this post
re: "Do the Math" Formula for measuring perfs
I have the SG Instanta as well....
My go-to preference, however is this one;
An excellent gauge that hasn't ever failed me.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.