Parts Storage Solutions

[maxamendel]

Aldi is selling their WorkZone 32 drawer parts organizers again this week. I already have 5 or six of them, and I use them to separate and sort all my parts. one has resistors, one capacitors, one transistors and diodes, one ICs, etc.

Anybody else use these? I like them a lot. the drawers have slots for two dividers, so if you're clever and patient each bin can be a 96 part organizer. Some of the other bins ive used only have one slot per drawer.

Anybody use a different system that they like a lot? I've been curious about the Black and Decker 30 part drawers cause they seem more compact than the Aldi solution, and they're available year round.

 

[CheapSuitG]

That is what I am thinking as well, just having an Akro to the side.

On my desk, I have room for 3 across and I have stacked a 4th on top of one. So a total of 2-64 drawer and 2-44 drawers units.

I am just REALLY bad at putting things away if "away" isn't right there. Ask my wife, clothes hamper is 10 feet away, that is too far, they end up on the floor.

 

[PapaBear]

I have to stay organized because I’m naturally unorganized and messy. I focus on the task at hand and move to the next step before putting things back.

This is an older photo from one of the rare times the space was fully cleaned and organized.

Since then I’ve added a set of storage drawers above the red unit on the right. They’re all Akro-Mils drawers. They go on sale fairly often on Amazon if you’re not picky about color. I also added a desktop organizer for tools I use most.

On the left are transistors and diodes. Not all of them, just the most commonly used ones are in the small drawers. The large bottom drawers hold off-board parts like footswitches, LEDs, bezels, DC and 1/4" jacks, and diodes that are used less often. Across the top, from left to right, are projects in progress, parts bins then ICs and things that are too large to fit in a drawer.

The middle is resistors. Most values have their own drawer with a few doubled up using splitters.

Bottom right holds capacitors in the small drawers, and random items in the larger ones. Things like solder wick, drill templates and sockets.

Top right (not pictured) is another dual drawer unit. The upper small drawers hold pots and the larger drawers below contain dust covers, oddball parts, and specialty items like transformers and one-off components that need to be accessible but don’t justify dedicated storage.

The top drawer unit is stacked pretty solidly, it sits well on the one below but I’d still like to find a way to make sure it can’t tip. Weight wise, I’d prefer the pots on the bottom but I reach for capacitors about ten times more often.

Out of sight is one of these cases I use one for knobs and just picked up a second for germanium transistors.

PCBs are stored in a three ring binder with sleeves with build docs. I use UV DTF stickers for artwork so when I’m ahead, I keep those in there as well.

I tried the baseball card box and baggie method but I was terrible about putting things back right away. It ended up being messy. Nothing wrong with it but I suck at being organized. With this, everything has its place. After a long day, drawers are everywhere but they are all easy enough to put back.

So short story long, I like bins with drawers!






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If you covered the surface of that desk with a bunch of misc. crap it'd look just about like mine!

 

[falco_femoralis]

I'm currently trying to sort my garage. I've learned that I need more shelf space than I really need, because if I need to put something away and its spot isn't right in front of me, it's going to become a mess I'll have to deal with later. That and reaching over something so I can put something else away just isn't going to happen after a long hard project, so the shelving unit behind my air compressor tank is going to have to go.

The pedal front is ok for now. I have two work benches: a soldering/assembly desk and a standing height general work area/drilling table. I'm happy with the table: it's 8 feet across and 32 inches deep, and has two shelving units on it which hold my pedals and random bs. It's great to just put stuff on and leave it out: the perfect work table. This summer I'm going to remake the soldering desk to be somewhat future proof, with room for four akro mills type apparati as well as a drawer or two below the desk top. I currently have a big long shelf under the desk, which I like, but a drawer or two would be a bit nicer for tools and materials that need a better home other than on top of the drawers. I'm also going to try to condense the size of the desk so the design is more efficient in its space.

I like narrow bench tops: 18-22." A bench that is two feet deep is too much to reach across. Many traditional woodworking benches have a tool well, which is a part of the top that is set below the surface, like a little canal, you can put your tools in and they'll be out of the way but still at an arm's reach. I'm not sure whether I want to implement this or not - on one hand, it would be nice to have a place to put things like sockets where they won't roll off the table, and pliers etc always have their spot they can go in, but on the other hand, it would be a pain to clean. The problem with trying new ideas is you have to commit to them!

 

[michaeleschuler]

I like the idea of being able to grab the box, have it there, pull the draw with the parts I need quickly. That said, I probably will outgrow this sooner than later and I am curious what other people are using for this kind of occasional but then need quick access type parts.

I have one of these Plano boxes that holds two large parts organizers. I quickly outgrew its capacity, but the top is big enough to hold my iron and other large parts and it is handy for taking a few organizers (typically tools and soldering accoutrements) out for house calls. One caveat is that Plano has sold organizers with different heights over the years, and some are a tight fit.

Since I live in a small apartment with no dedicated workbench and I don't need large racks of bins, I built two IKEA-style four-organizer holders that are great, since handling the stacked organizers got to be like playing Towers of Hanoi every time I needed some parts. The large organizers are big enough to hold the 2" x 3.5" envelopes small parts come in from some dealers.