Du

Dave

19/09/2012 8:59 AM

Time to Get Organized


Well, things have been going reasonably well lately, so I've decided
to reward myself with something I've wanted for a long, long time.
Many people might take a trip or buy some new electronic toy, but I've
bought two of these instead.

http://www.avenuesupply.ca/material-storage/drawer-small-parts-cabinets/d-81240-81240-153135

Considering the amount of screws, nuts, bolts and all the other extra
little pieces of hardware I've collected over the years, I figure I
might as well get it all organized.

I figure it will weigh in at least several hundred pounds when it's
loaded, so I'm building a six caster dolly for it to ride around on.

When my time comes, I might not die with the most toys, but I'm sure
as hell going to have them organized. :)


This topic has 9 replies

Sb

"SonomaProducts.com"

in reply to Dave on 19/09/2012 8:59 AM

20/09/2012 10:33 AM

On Wednesday, September 19, 2012 5:59:16 AM UTC-7, Upscale wrote:
> Well, things have been going reasonably well lately, so I've decided to r=
eward myself with something I've wanted for a long, long time. Many people =
might take a trip or buy some new electronic toy, but I've bought two of th=
ese instead. http://www.avenuesupply.ca/material-storage/drawer-small-parts=
-cabinets/d-81240-81240-153135 Considering the amount of screws, nuts, bolt=
s and all the other extra little pieces of hardware I've collected over the=
years, I figure I might as well get it all organized. I figure it will wei=
gh in at least several hundred pounds when it's loaded, so I'm building a s=
ix caster dolly for it to ride around on. When my time comes, I might not d=
ie with the most toys, but I'm sure as hell going to have them organized. :=
)

Well, I invested in a bunch of screws from McFeely's I got #6, #8 and #10 s=
quare head oiled finish wood screws. Lengths ranging from 1/2" to 2 1/2". C=
ame as a bundle with nice little trays and a rack mounting system. So I hav=
e three rows of maybe 8 trays each. All with nice labels and the tray can b=
e liffted of and taken to the bench. Really happy. Such a nice thing to hav=
e. I have reloaded a few of the popular sizes over the last year.

My renter (I rent space in my shop), made some changes to the location of s=
ome equipment and removed the rack from the wall, setting it on the floor i=
n my personal area. I hadn't rehung it yet. A few days later he popped a ci=
rcuit and had to walk through my area to get to the breaker, apparently tri=
pping over the rack, spilling all screws in a big pile. Oh joy. Anyone want=
to join a sorting party?

EA

"Existential Angst"

in reply to Dave on 19/09/2012 8:59 AM

20/09/2012 12:09 AM

"Dave" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Well, things have been going reasonably well lately, so I've decided
> to reward myself with something I've wanted for a long, long time.
> Many people might take a trip or buy some new electronic toy, but I've
> bought two of these instead.
>
> http://www.avenuesupply.ca/material-storage/drawer-small-parts-cabinets/d-81240-81240-153135
>
> Considering the amount of screws, nuts, bolts and all the other extra
> little pieces of hardware I've collected over the years, I figure I
> might as well get it all organized.
>
> I figure it will weigh in at least several hundred pounds when it's
> loaded, so I'm building a six caster dolly for it to ride around on.
>
> When my time comes, I might not die with the most toys, but I'm sure
> as hell going to have them organized. :)

I have a bunch of those, but unless you tape a sample to the outside of each
drawer, stuff is not readily retrievable.

I find the item below to be sofar the most practical/usable, even without
immaculate or totally logical organization, bec you can quickly pull out a
tray and LOOK at what's inside, thru translucent covers. These have been
lifesavers for me.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-203431528/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=parts+organizers&storeId=10051

Actually, what I have is a FOUR tray version of this by WorkForce (sku
323-742), carried by HD until recently, and replaced by the above, which is
only 3 drawers.... figgers.

These are lifesavers, ito quite a collection of screws, nuts, washers, pins,
etc, of staggering variety. Prototyping would be almost impossible without
some system like this.

I have literally a dozens of these organizers, which don't seem to be
available now.

Even without the storage box itself, plastic parts trays that you can view
through from the top are quite helpful, altho stacking them can be sometimes
problematic.
--
EA



Ll

Leon

in reply to Dave on 19/09/2012 8:59 AM

20/09/2012 2:29 PM

On 9/20/2012 4:02 AM, Dave wrote:
> On Thu, 20 Sep 2012 00:09:23 -0400, "Existential Angst" >>
>> http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-203431528/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=parts+organizers&storeId=10051
>> I have literally a dozens of these organizers, which don't seem to be
>> available now.
>
> My current parts collection system is not too different from that.
> Problem is they breed like rabbits and are all over the place. Now
> everything will be organized in one spot.
>
> As to knowing what's in a particular drawer, a colour coded label such
> as "FH Screws #8" as an example will suffice. The drawers and dividers
> I bought are 17" deep. So one drawer with dividers every 1" should
> suffice for all lengths of that particular type of screw.
>


I organize my steel drawers by diameter size, and then by length. Then
pocket hole screws are sorted the same way. I use no labels at all,
having had them for 30 years I can pretty much tell you in which of the
24 drawers to look for a particular screw.

Ll

Leon

in reply to Dave on 19/09/2012 8:59 AM

20/09/2012 2:26 PM

On 9/19/2012 7:59 AM, Dave wrote:
>
> Well, things have been going reasonably well lately, so I've decided
> to reward myself with something I've wanted for a long, long time.
> Many people might take a trip or buy some new electronic toy, but I've
> bought two of these instead.
>
> http://www.avenuesupply.ca/material-storage/drawer-small-parts-cabinets/d-81240-81240-153135
>
> Considering the amount of screws, nuts, bolts and all the other extra
> little pieces of hardware I've collected over the years, I figure I
> might as well get it all organized.
>
> I figure it will weigh in at least several hundred pounds when it's
> loaded, so I'm building a six caster dolly for it to ride around on.
>
> When my time comes, I might not die with the most toys, but I'm sure
> as hell going to have them organized. :)
>


Excellent choice~ I have owned the top 1X6 and the middle 3x6 units you
refer to. I have had them since about 1981.

I will say that they will a lot of weight, I have 2~3 thousand screws in
mine. You may want to rethink rolling them around, I simply carry the
appropriate drawer to the job.

Du

Dave

in reply to Dave on 19/09/2012 8:59 AM

20/09/2012 5:02 AM

On Thu, 20 Sep 2012 00:09:23 -0400, "Existential Angst" >>
>http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-203431528/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=parts+organizers&storeId=10051
>I have literally a dozens of these organizers, which don't seem to be
>available now.

My current parts collection system is not too different from that.
Problem is they breed like rabbits and are all over the place. Now
everything will be organized in one spot.

As to knowing what's in a particular drawer, a colour coded label such
as "FH Screws #8" as an example will suffice. The drawers and dividers
I bought are 17" deep. So one drawer with dividers every 1" should
suffice for all lengths of that particular type of screw.

Du

Dave

in reply to Dave on 19/09/2012 8:59 AM

22/09/2012 12:15 AM

On Thu, 20 Sep 2012 14:29:19 -0500, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet>
>pocket hole screws are sorted the same way. I use no labels at all,
>having had them for 30 years I can pretty much tell you in which of the
>24 drawers to look for a particular screw.

I pretty much have to label. The 17" deep drawers can be divided by 1"
increments so many of the drawers will have a variety of hardware. I
was thinking that see through drawer fronts would have been nice to
have, but then thinking about it, I figured they wouldn't be much use
except to see what was in the first drawer section.

Du

Dave

in reply to Dave on 19/09/2012 8:59 AM

22/09/2012 12:11 AM

On Thu, 20 Sep 2012 14:26:28 -0500, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet>
>I will say that they will weigh a lot. I have 2~3 thousand screws in
>mine. You may want to rethink rolling them around, I simply carry the
>appropriate drawer to the job.

I'm pretty sure I'll be finding a suitable spot for the shelf units
and just leaving them there. The castor base is just a means to get
them to a spot I can leave them and then on the off chance I ever have
to move them again. Just by themselves, the shelves are close to 200
lbs. I'm figuring upwards of 400-500 lbs or more when filled with
hardware. A significant amount of stuff in my apartment has wheels on
it, which is pretty much a necessity for my circumstances.

Additionally, the castor base I'm building for it will have some
drawers in it for accessories ~ labels, dividers, etcetera.

I did call the supplier to make sure the drawers were removable, but I
likely won't be carrying the drawers anywhere very much. The units I
purchased are 17" deep, so if they accumulate any amount of hardware,
they will be pretty heavy by themselves.

GR

"G. Ross"

in reply to Dave on 19/09/2012 8:59 AM

20/09/2012 3:34 PM

SonomaProducts.com wrote:
> On Wednesday, September 19, 2012 5:59:16 AM UTC-7, Upscale wrote:
>> Well, things have been going reasonably well lately, so I've decided to reward myself with something I've wanted for a long, long time. Many people might take a trip or buy some new electronic toy, but I've bought two of these instead. http://www.avenuesupply.ca/material-storage/drawer-small-parts-cabinets/d-81240-81240-153135 Considering the amount of screws, nuts, bolts and all the other extra little pieces of hardware I've collected over the years, I figure I might as well get it all organized. I figure it will weigh in at least several hundred pounds when it's loaded, so I'm building a six caster dolly for it to ride around on. When my time comes, I might not die with the most toys, but I'm sure as hell going to have them organized. :)
>
> Well, I invested in a bunch of screws from McFeely's I got #6, #8 and #10 square head oiled finish wood screws. Lengths ranging from 1/2" to 2 1/2". Came as a bundle with nice little trays and a rack mounting system. So I have three rows of maybe 8 trays each. All with nice labels and the tray can be liffted of and taken to the bench. Really happy. Such a nice thing to have. I have reloaded a few of the popular sizes over the last year.
>
> My renter (I rent space in my shop), made some changes to the location of some equipment and removed the rack from the wall, setting it on the floor in my personal area. I hadn't rehung it yet. A few days later he popped a circuit and had to walk through my area to get to the breaker, apparently tripping over the rack, spilling all screws in a big pile. Oh joy. Anyone want to join a sorting party?
>
I have a similar setup with trays. I made a card to fit each label
slot and HM glued a screw to each label for quick comparison of screw
size in that tray.

--
G.W. Ross

Earn cash in your spare time,
blackmail your friends.





Ll

Leon

in reply to Dave on 19/09/2012 8:59 AM

22/09/2012 1:48 PM

On 9/21/2012 11:15 PM, Dave wrote:
> On Thu, 20 Sep 2012 14:29:19 -0500, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet>
>> pocket hole screws are sorted the same way. I use no labels at all,
>> having had them for 30 years I can pretty much tell you in which of the
>> 24 drawers to look for a particular screw.
>
> I pretty much have to label. The 17" deep drawers can be divided by 1"
> increments so many of the drawers will have a variety of hardware. I
> was thinking that see through drawer fronts would have been nice to
> have, but then thinking about it, I figured they wouldn't be much use
> except to see what was in the first drawer section.
>


If yours are like mine, mine were parts pins, the dividers till also
have label holders.


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