Just wondering about your organization...

[no one ever]

here's a quote from the FS/FT thread:

I started out with that RS assortment, and I still find myself pulling singles from those original bundles to this day.  It had larger quantities of the more useful values, so it was really helpful.

Then I bought into a team purchase a guy here undertook -- Hal, I believe -- and you gotta be grateful to a guy for going through that work.  It ended up being a much bigger undertaking for him than he had anticipated, but in the end, we all walked away with, I think, 40 resistors of 50 different values or something ridiculous, for like 12 bucks.  It was a huge benefit to everyone who took part, and it's a great way to stock up if even if you're on a tight budget.  You can almost always find 10 guys who are like minded.

So those were all carbon.  Now, after plenty of building, I can't see a big justification for trying to save money on carbon resistors over metal ones, so I've since started stock piling modest amounts of metal film resistors with each mouser order...I never thought about the price breaks, though (big brain lapse there), and will probably start doing the 200 thing (200 for $4 or 11 for $1...hmmmm...).

Straying a abit, I wonder if folks would post pics of their resistor storage solutions.  I've been using little clear tackle boxes, but I have too many values, and still end up with most compartments holding 5 or 6 values...need something that's really space-efficient...

Cheers all!

ltt

[rockgardenlove]

I bought 50 little bags with 40 in each, or so.  Its very hard to find what I want right now, I just have a pile of parts bags.  I'd love to see some organizational ideas.

[markm]

I "recycle" the small parts bags that I receive my parts in from Small Bear (thanks Steve!!)
and keep them stood up like file folders in a small cardboard box.
my resistors are in reasonable order, it could be better i suppose but,
I don't have time for organization.....I'm a Guitar Player + a Stompbox Hobbyist!
  MarkM

[psiico]

I keep mine in one of those drawer organizers, each drawer is approx 1.5X1.5 X6 inches.  I organize them by the last color, not the tolerance, the other last color.  All the reds in one drawer, orange in another, etc...  Still requires some digging to find what I need but it's much faster then keeping them all in a pile together and really only takes a few seconds to find what I need.

[RLBJR65]

I have a bunch of Plano boxes something like these http://www.planomolding.com/content/index.cfm?siteaction=product&lineid=4&groupid=18&sectionid=59&partid=216# You can get them or something similar just about anywhere for around 4 or 5 bucks.

[wampcat1]

I have several of these:
http://www.toolking.com/productinfo.aspx?productid=2620

60 drawer storage organizers. Resistors and caps go from low to high in value, each drawer being marked. Makes it nice and neat.

bw

[R.G.]

For at least 25 years I've put 100 resistors at a time into a paper coil envelope, marked the envelope with the value, and then put all the standard values between 10 ohms and 10M into a shoebox, on their side, in order, so I can see the value at a glance. I've worn out two cardboard shoeboxes, and am now on a semi-clear one from the Container Store.

[leonhendrix]

All my parts and equipment are layed out in such a way that the only free floor space is the bit where my feet go when im sitting at my bench.

[ErikMiller]

I've posted this before on this forum, but here goes again.

For my prototyping stock, I labeled drawers with the first two digits of the 5% standard (E24) values: 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 27, 33, 39, etc.

Each drawer got all of the resistors that are multiples of those digits. 18 ohms, 180 ohms, 1.8K, 18K, 180K, 1.8M all go in the "18" drawer. 68 ohms, 680 ohms, 6.8K, 68K, etc. all go in the "68" drawer.

This is enough organization that I spend very little time hunting for resistors, yet I only have to have 20 drawers.

If you stick to the E12 values as you'd find in most vintage effects, you only need 12 drawers.

Initially, while I was memorizing the color code, I wrote the numerals in their corresponding colors (wherever possible) and wrote out the colors next to the numerals. In that way I had a big color code chart in front of me in the form of my resistor drawers.

This can work for capacitors, too. Drawers for 10, 22, 33, 47, 68....

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

My advice for anyone doing small scale manufacturing, is buy them in boxes of 1,000 because, if you leave them in the box stored end-out, it takes no space plus, it cuts down the chance of a stray 10K getting into the 1K drawer.. which can cost half a day's work (or worse!)

[petemoore]

  Ii take a tall cardboard box, and install shelves in it, turning it into a 'shelves' box, stand that up [about 2' high, 1' wide, 1' deep], and then use the bottom 3'' of cereal boxes [cutting most of the top part off, to make little 'trays'], and stick this or that in the boxes.
  This takes me 'to' but not 'beyond' "Semi-Organized"...the way I like it.
  I also acquired a batch of free fishing tackle boxes and use them too.
  I make 'shelves' from a board with dowel rod legs stuck in it, very quick, easily sized, sometimes [when I'm super bored and motivated] I even wrap the board with cereal box material stapled to it, so as to end up with a 'tray' so parts don't tend to just roll off of it.
  I like this method because I always have more raw materials available for free to adjust the number of boxes I need.
  Clearing the bench for a different type project involves a wide, long, short sided plastic tray [front cover from a reel to reel], I take the large items off, then scrape the rest to the tray for sorting/dumping the rest into a 'junk box'...instant clean slate.

[Doug_H]

I have several of these:
http://www.toolking.com/productinfo.aspx?productid=2620

60 drawer storage organizers. Resistors and caps go from low to high in value, each drawer being marked. Makes it nice and neat.

bw

That's the kind of thing I use. Ea drawer has multiple dividers you can slide in. I put "ranges" of resistors in ea divided area of the drawer. I'm using 4 drawers- 2 for 1/2W and 2 for 1/4W. It works really well and I can find everything easily & quickly. I haven't organized my power resistors and caps yet.

Doug

[jxoco]

I "recycle" the small parts bags that I receive my parts in from Small Bear (thanks Steve!!)
and keep them stood up like file folders in a small cardboard box.
my resistors are in reasonable order, it could be better i suppose but,
I don't have time for organization.....I'm a Guitar Player + a Stompbox Hobbyist!
  MarkM

Same here, just the bags they come in most of the time, in a tight enough fitting box so they stand up, and in order from lowest to highest values, wattage be damned, if I have it I have it else I need to buy it.
I do the same with Caps, transistors, screws, etc
I cut down a couple of those slant box things that you use to hold magazines on you bookshelf. They end up 4 x 9.5 x 4 inches and I usually put a swath of packing tape across the inner bottom of the box to smooth it out and strengthen it.
I bought a 36 drawer unit that is still sitting there unused... It'll be good for switches and bigger things but for resistors and caps and diodes and transistors the bags-in-the-box work far better. I even bought envelopes once that fit the box (I think they were called key envelopes) but I've since found that the clear plastic works better and I've got lots of spares. I write on the plastic bags with a big sharpie and just keep putting the refill parts into the existing marked bags.

Omite resistors used to have cabinets for resistors, discontinued now, and they were over $200.
here is a ebay listing for a set;
http://cgi.ebay.com/OHMITE-RESISTOR-COMPONENT-KIT-CAB43F-RED-DEVIL-NEW_W0QQitemZ7608293649QQcategoryZ73151QQcmdZViewItem
$159 plus $20 shipping, I hope there is no stampede to buy it.

Here is my box starting point
http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?CatIds=7%2C61%2C83%2C86,1045&webid=13732&affixedcode=WW
$10 for 4, but I had them 'given' to me, actually the previous owner was throwing dozens of them out, I liberated a few of them.

I have a large number of rubbermaid plastic boxes with lids, they are about $2 each and are called shoe boxes I believe. They are big enough so that a whole 'project' finished or not can fit in one and then be put away. I probably have close to 20 of these things and labels for each one. They are very universal in use for me. A quick look in the cupboard and there are cell phone stuff, motorcycle stuff, a couple of camping stuffs, computer stuff, 4 or 5 of these, webbing stuff, lots of different project stuffs, breadboard stuff, wall warts, palm pilot, gps, it just goes on and on.  And it stopped my wife from complaining about my crap. And it has been a great hiding spot for gifts and easter cream eggs for her, she never looks into any of the stuff, it makes her shiver to look at it half the time.

Good luck with your crap... er,  I mean artifacts that prove you exist.

[no one ever]

I have a few drawers on this huge mini-drawer type thing. You know, one of those things that sits on top of your workbench and has little clear plastic drawers...


I keep EVERYTHING in there. Well, the odd values (of which there are many) are still kept in one big mouser box. But I keep my iron's tips, solder, trannys, caps, common value resistors, chips, etc etc.




but the fact that it's plastic keeps me worrying about static damage to the semi's. I keep a huge stash of those anti-static bags from mouser.

[petesguitar1]

I do much liike Erik Miller. I just have all of my resistors in drawers in 1, 1.2, 1.5 and so on with the multiples. I have a clear tacklebox with sections for caps and then old guitar plectrum cases for my other odds and ends. I get these free when my local guitar shop throws them out, and they are perfect. I also use old sliced cheese containers (In Australia wee have closeable plastic ones). They work really well and are free with my cheese. For larger things like old PCB's and enclosures I'm using carryalls which cost me 50c each at a garage sale.

[343 Salty Beans]

coin envelopes, my friend. You can get em for at office depot, I think it's 200 of em, it was a while ago. But they're just the right size for all your component storage needs. But if I remember rightly, they're a little expensive...not TOO expensive, just more expensive than you'd expect.

They look like this:



Get the small ones, I think they're 2"x3". Just don't store ICs in those...put them in that fancy antistatic foam.

Cheers.

[vortex]

For my part needs, the drawer organizers work well. For bigger stuff I use tupperware type containers in a larger floor drawer organizer. After that I have a several plastic "totes" of different sizes to  house other larger stuff.

Pretty much tupperware and totes all the way for me! Easy to stack and they keep the dust off nicely.

The amps and gits get stashed sneakily around the rest of the place...