how the heck do you guys organize all this stuff?

[danwelsh]

Looking for organization tips for resistors and all other components that seem to pile up. I'm on my 14th build now and find myself just leaving all the diff values in their little baggies inside a big baggy so when I go to build another I gotta dump em all out and grab the values I need.....there must be a better way

[chromesphere]

Lots and lots of component draws   Some people are cool with a messy work station.  Personally I get lost pretty easily (with everything life has to offer) so I'm...quite...neat... 

[GermanCdn]

Canadian Tire Tool Drawers (the 36 drawer ones) for caps, transistors, ICs, LEDs, Vactrols, boards, etc.  Usually on sale once a month.  Plano tackle boxes for knobs, pots, jacks, switches, and common value resistors, zip lock bags in order of magnitude for the rest.

[stevie1556]

I've got these storage units that have loads of little draws in. If you keep resistors on rolls you can easily get 200 in each draw without any problems, if the resistors are lose, probably more around 800-100 per draw.

I can't find a picture of mine at the moment but here is a link to them http://www.rapidonline.com/Facilities/Raaco-C11-44-Steel-Storage-Cabinet-44-Drawer-14-2078

[SmoothAction]

I read on diysb that one dude uses three ring binders with plastic sport card inserts. My old Pokemon and baseball card binders are going to be converted to holding resistors, caps, trannies and diodes on my next order. Just gotta label them. Seems like a great idea if you have a small work area and don't want to have a zillion component drawers like me.

[chromesphere]

I can't find a picture of mine at the moment but here is a link to them http://www.rapidonline.com/Facilities/Raaco-C11-44-Steel-Storage-Cabinet-44-Drawer-14-2078

I recently bought one of these.  Fanatastic cabinet.  The draws are a good size.  Metal chassis.  Good stuff.

[madbean]

Even this isn't enough. Pic doesn't show the cart on the left side with six shelves or the two plastic bins under the table full of PCBs.

[rullywowr]

I got this delicious idea from someone else on the Madbean forum but for most of what I do it is great.





Basically it's just Caprisun (fruit juice drinks) boxes with the lids cut off and some #6 coin envelopes.  Amazon or eBay has the best prices on coin envelopes..the office stores are expensive.  I enjoy this method for my through hole components as it is easy to grab the box in the order you need when populating....grab the resistors box first, then grab the box with film caps and so on.  It's really cheap, quenches your thirst, doesn't take up much room, and super easy to keep organized as they are all sorted by value low to high.  If a device is ESD sensitive you can keep it in an ESD bag inside the coin envelope.  I use little poly bags (like the ones from Tayda) to keep things organized or just use the poly bag the components came in.  If the envelopes get a little ratty you can just replace it, no big deal.

When building, if I notice I'm running low on a value I will just write it down in a text file on my computer to ensure I have it for the next order to Tayda/Mouser/wherever. 

For larger components like switches, jacks, stomps, etc...the fishing tackle organizers work good for me.  I also have an old CD jewel case organizer that I use with cheap paper CD sleeves for diodes/transistors/ceramic caps etc...but its not the best as the envelopes fall over easily.  Therefore, I'm not posting pictures of it and converting to Caprisun boxes soon.

SMD components...I use the little flip top interlocking boxes which work great for 603 and up size.

[GrindCustoms]

I also use coins envellope for all the 1/8 - 1/4 - 1/2 Watt resisistors, LEDs, LDR, Diodes and up to 50V radial capacitors.

ICs and Si trannies, Vreg are in the corrosion and magnetic protection tackle box type box.

Ge's are sorted in bigger tackle box, everything that is Axial or over 50v(Electros) are in drawers like Brian displayed.

All my pots, switches, jacks, sockets..well everything that is hardware at some point is in a 130 plastic part bin rack...like what you can see in electronic or mecanic shop sometime.

And... there's always improvement to be done.

[Stomptown]

I live in an apartment so space is pretty limited. I would love to have a setup like Brian's with drawers someday when I get a house. I have found a nice system in the mean time for all components other than resistors (I organize those like Rullywowr). I found these embroidery floss organizer boxes at the local Fred Meyer and the are perfect. I do have to trim the leads on diodes but the are perfect. Here is a pic:

[davent]

Pedal size-appropriate stuff, caps, diodes and resistors go into 3" × 5" Ziploc bags then into cut-down cardboard Ikea magazine holders. Will hold thousands of resistors.

Bigger parts, pots, switches, jacks, transistors and the like go into small-drawer plastic cabs or those divided tray organizers etc. Enclosures into a shoebox, tubes into dresser drawers, paints into shoeboxes and on and on it goes.




dave

[miter53]

+1 on coin envelopes.
A whole lotta germs!

[Leevibe]

Drawers makes building way quicker.

Plus it's fun to sort parts when they arrive!

I remember the baggies inside of baggies thing.  I get drawers for super cheap at harbor freight.  $16 for 40 drawer cabinet.  Quality is good enough for what I need. 

[alanp]

I seriously need to get a lamp like that. Partly for photographing, partly to see better.

More ontopic, I've got some plastic containers that fit in another plastic thing. There are 5 resistor containers (0-1k, 1k1-10k, 10k1-100k, etc), a diode one, ceramic caps, box caps. I need to get more for the other componentry (they're still in plastic bag mode, apart from the ICs which are in an icecream container.)

[Leevibe]

I seriously need to get a lamp like that. Partly for photographing, partly to see better.

Yeah.  It's great for side lighting for pics.  Adds drama and coolness.