What are people using to store different parts these days?
#1
05-01-18, 07:34 AM
What are people using to store different parts these days?
Trying to organize my garage / basement.
Lots of different types of parts and grouping them in zip lock bags is wearing thin - litterally - the bags are breaking, thrown together and hard to organize...
What are people using these days to group parts, make them easily accessible, etc.
I have some baby food jars and coffee cans. but haven't gotten more in years - the kids are grown and while I don't drink coffee, my wife's coffee habit is solved with the kurig pods.
Lots of different types of parts and grouping them in zip lock bags is wearing thin - litterally - the bags are breaking, thrown together and hard to organize...
What are people using these days to group parts, make them easily accessible, etc.
I have some baby food jars and coffee cans. but haven't gotten more in years - the kids are grown and while I don't drink coffee, my wife's coffee habit is solved with the kurig pods.
#2
05-01-18, 08:18 AM
Group Moderator
Well, you killed my best suggestion; I use, among other things, the plastic containers for Maxwell House coffee. Also ziplock bags, BUT I use the freezer bags which are thicker and more durable. 
#3
05-01-18, 08:28 AM
yeah, freezer are thicker
and they come in all different sizes....
but when you have a stack of these bags, you have to paw through all of them to find the one you need - always on the bottom : )
and they come in all different sizes....
but when you have a stack of these bags, you have to paw through all of them to find the one you need - always on the bottom : )
#4
05-01-18, 08:31 AM
Member
About 4 years ago I purchased a huge lot of hardware & bins from a store going out of business same as below.
Sold all the hardware and kept the bins, have a wall of 30 cubes with 6 bins each.
Best investment I have ever made!
Sold all the hardware and kept the bins, have a wall of 30 cubes with 6 bins each.
Best investment I have ever made!
Last edited by PJmax; 02-23-19 at 12:41 PM. Reason: resized picture
#6
05-01-18, 12:34 PM
Group Moderator
Very impressive Marq. My go-to local hardware store just closed. I'm heartbroken as those guys had everything you could want. Everyone complained about the prices. The price is only a small part of the issue. That stuff costs money to stock and store. Places like the Depot don't have anywhere near the same amount of specialty hardware.
Anyway..... they had rows and rows of the storage bins you purchased. I wish I had the room for something like that but I don't.
I do use these which are pretty inexpensive. They come in 20 and 40 bin sections.
You can use plastic bags inside the bins.
harbor freight/20-piece-poly-bins-and-railsl
Anyway..... they had rows and rows of the storage bins you purchased. I wish I had the room for something like that but I don't.
I do use these which are pretty inexpensive. They come in 20 and 40 bin sections.
You can use plastic bags inside the bins.
harbor freight/20-piece-poly-bins-and-railsl
#7
05-01-18, 01:44 PM
I use a lot of plastic peanut butter jars or similar; large & small depending on the parts. When the small engine shop shop closed down I used to work at I lucked out and got 2 huge storage racks with plastic bins for smaller hdwe etc. Also 6 coffee cans filed with hdwe.
#8
05-01-18, 02:17 PM
Super Moderator
Marq, that is soooo cheating! Now, if you had made all that out of red oak, rosewood, and mahogany, with double babbit rabbit finger jointed dovetails, it would count.
Seriously, I use a mix or things. For small parts, the 2 for $10 organizers are hard to beat https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-15-C...0034/204515485 I have about 10-12 of those as well as some larger ones.
I also use french fried onion containers, cottage cheese and large yogurt containers. Paint 'em white to cover the markings. Label with duct or painters tape. For large quantities of small light stuff, I use the clear containers like nuts and cat treats come in.
Seriously, I use a mix or things. For small parts, the 2 for $10 organizers are hard to beat https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-15-C...0034/204515485 I have about 10-12 of those as well as some larger ones.
I also use french fried onion containers, cottage cheese and large yogurt containers. Paint 'em white to cover the markings. Label with duct or painters tape. For large quantities of small light stuff, I use the clear containers like nuts and cat treats come in.
#9
05-01-18, 02:21 PM
Another option is those plastic lunch meat containers with lids, they aren't the strongest but stack easily and are easy to see through. But you gotta eat a lot of sandwiches to get enough of them, something we do in the summer with kids always being hungry. I prefer the 1 pound containers.
#10
05-01-18, 02:33 PM
Yes, Marq that is wild!
The Harbor freight bins are nice, but too big for any one type of item I'd bag up.
And the home depot ones - inevitably, some things will be too long or just a little too many for any 1 or 2 sections.
I've been making due with coffee cans from eons ago. Just could use some more. wonder if people on ebay sell them? : ) Shipping costs are sooo expensive.
Or I guess I have to prowl a supermarket for foods in potential containers that are low cost.
Interesting - we haven't eaten canned veggies in years come to think of it - either fresh or frozen. Maybe canned soup? we have some of that. mmmm I'm getting hungry.
The Harbor freight bins are nice, but too big for any one type of item I'd bag up.
And the home depot ones - inevitably, some things will be too long or just a little too many for any 1 or 2 sections.
I've been making due with coffee cans from eons ago. Just could use some more. wonder if people on ebay sell them? : ) Shipping costs are sooo expensive.
Or I guess I have to prowl a supermarket for foods in potential containers that are low cost.
Interesting - we haven't eaten canned veggies in years come to think of it - either fresh or frozen. Maybe canned soup? we have some of that. mmmm I'm getting hungry.
#11
05-01-18, 03:19 PM
Super Moderator
Just to let you know, that's why I specifically like that one from HD. The whole back (upper?) 2 sections can be left open for long stuff. See the pics. The orange dividers can be left out completely if desired.
Anything bigger/bulkier than that, I'll normally buy some cheap plastic tool boxes to keep them in. I have my grease guns all in one tool box, along with a few extra tubes of grease. I keep all my (specialty) plumbing tools and chemicals in a box. Just grab the box and the normal basic hand tools out of the tool chest or off the pegboard and good to go.
One thing I've learned about organizing is a simple rule...other than tools and small consumables that don't take much room, if you haven't used it in X amount of years...get rid of it. Sell it or give it away. Do I really NEED those 4 empty steel ammo cans? Or am I just keeping them because of nostalgia from my military days? A coffee can of rusty common nails that I used while building a shed back in VA? I'd probably just go buy new galv nails now wouldn't I? Do I really need 3 lbs of roofing nails that I've had for 15 yrs? No re-roofing or shingle repair in my future that a hand full wouldn't take care of. How about that 10'x1' roll of carpet left from some cat perch project? I could buy what I need as a remnant at any carpet store for $5.
Sure makes finding what you DO need much easier.
Anything bigger/bulkier than that, I'll normally buy some cheap plastic tool boxes to keep them in. I have my grease guns all in one tool box, along with a few extra tubes of grease. I keep all my (specialty) plumbing tools and chemicals in a box. Just grab the box and the normal basic hand tools out of the tool chest or off the pegboard and good to go.
One thing I've learned about organizing is a simple rule...other than tools and small consumables that don't take much room, if you haven't used it in X amount of years...get rid of it. Sell it or give it away. Do I really NEED those 4 empty steel ammo cans? Or am I just keeping them because of nostalgia from my military days? A coffee can of rusty common nails that I used while building a shed back in VA? I'd probably just go buy new galv nails now wouldn't I? Do I really need 3 lbs of roofing nails that I've had for 15 yrs? No re-roofing or shingle repair in my future that a hand full wouldn't take care of. How about that 10'x1' roll of carpet left from some cat perch project? I could buy what I need as a remnant at any carpet store for $5.
Sure makes finding what you DO need much easier.
#12
05-01-18, 03:25 PM
Damn! As I was reading your reply I was thinking i didn't really say - these are items that don't ever get used... don't want to dedicate a nice container for most of them.
then I got farther into your post : )
GREAT advice! Thanks!
then I got farther into your post : )
GREAT advice! Thanks!
#13
05-01-18, 07:36 PM
So many items can be re-purposed as organizers. I have 2 large cabinets with wide, deep drawers on ball bearing glides. Like a Lista cabinet on steroids. Each drawer has several lift-out trays that originally held keypunch cards.
Work got rid of several employee lockers many years ago and I brought home 3 3-door units. One of them has 1/4" Masonite shelves and holds all my portable power tools.
My tablesaw outfeed table used to be supported by simple legs. Seeing this as wasted space I brought home a low bedroom dresser from a thrift store and slid it under the table. Those drawers now hold all my router bits, small fixtures & tools for router, shaper and saw.
Unfortunately none of these things are in my garage--which is an unorganized disaster zone!
Work got rid of several employee lockers many years ago and I brought home 3 3-door units. One of them has 1/4" Masonite shelves and holds all my portable power tools.
My tablesaw outfeed table used to be supported by simple legs. Seeing this as wasted space I brought home a low bedroom dresser from a thrift store and slid it under the table. Those drawers now hold all my router bits, small fixtures & tools for router, shaper and saw.
Unfortunately none of these things are in my garage--which is an unorganized disaster zone!
#14
05-02-18, 04:25 AM
Lots of great ideas! The only thing I'll add is that I used to think glass jars were great storage. Then I dropped one full of small items on the concrete floor! Steve
#15
05-02-18, 06:43 AM
My hardware is all in good order, easy enough to find, but it's an assortment of anything from and old surplus heavy duty film cabinet with 3-4" deep drawers that I built wood boxes to hold common size nuts and bolts, to an old hobbyist cabinet with small plastic drawers for anything smaller than 1/4-20, to various other plastic bins, to my old Skippy jars. Having carried my lunch for 50 years or whatever, I have plenty of the Skippy jars. So I can't add much, except to say that quite a long time ago I stopped using coffee cans or any other metal containers for anything other than short term storage, like tossing parts when I'm working on something, because my own unscientific but strong opinion is that metal containers promote rust. This might not be as much of an issue for some, but, being in Michigan, we have relatively high humidity and can have some pretty significant temperature changes from one day to the next or even morning to afternoon, and I believe that metal containers change temperature more quickly than wood or plastic, thus promoting condensation. That's my opinion anyway, and I'm sticking to it. I don't store much in coffee cans, other than the newer plastic ones.
#16
05-02-18, 11:48 AM
To add my $.02 I use clear plastic jars for all the small stuff, I screw the lids to floor joist in the basement and to the ceiling in the garage and then screw the jar to the lid that way they are up out of the way and I can see what is in them. Have a good one Geo.
