Ultimate Parts Storage

Step 4 All Done!

Put all of the zip pockets in the folders, close up, and you are all done! I have now organised over 1000 different types of components in eight folders (less than a quarter of the volume all of my boxes took up!), including all my electronic parts, and all of my miscellaneous small hardware such as nuts, bolts and screws. The largest parts I have also organised in a similar way with "zip bags within zip bags", and then I have stored the collection of bags in some larger plastic drawers.

I have finally got everything organised, for less than 25 pounds (US $50) - it is cheap, flexible, extremely compact, reorganisable, safe (handles the shake test), and portable - perhaps the ultimate small parts storage system!

Comments

[Aaronius]

Brilliant in its simplicity.

[wjcarpenter]

I'm just guessing -- from similar misadventures of my own -- that the little zip-lock bags inside one of the zipper pouches will tend to clump at the bottom when you put these binders upright on a bookshelf.

Have you found that to not be a problem, or have you found a way to work around it?

[tomward]

With the zipper pounches I use the plastic is more rigid than some so they don't shift around an enormous amount but it does happen to some extent. I also stack the folders horizontally on a shelf rather than vertically.

[normalicy]

Love this. Especially for resistors & small capacitors. Gotta try it.

[os_sanches]

great idea congratulation

[wb0ncp]

Can anyone say ESD hazard? I would not recommend putting anything that is static sensitive in these pages!!! It would work great for hardware though. If you have to do it this way put the individual parts in static safe bags made to store and ship static sensitive parts then put them in the pages. It would cost more but it would save you wading through the bad parts that get zapped.

[Grey_Wolfe]

Not a reasonable threat of parts being damaged due to static because he kept them in the original static protective packages. Heck, we used to keep static sensitive components in a metal cabinet in the corner of an office with shag carpeting. lol. Not the smartest thing, but I didn't pay for the stuff, so I didn't get a say. We had a policy of carrying around an unpopulated board whenever we'd be moving parts. Supposedly to help eliminate shock. I didn't have the heart to explain to the electronics professor that ran the place that this did not ground you out. I'm sure it wouldn't be taken well for a sixteen year old in high school to correct the man with a doctorate about his particular field of study. Hehehe.

[juggalo_assassin183]

if you want lots of those static bags for free go to texas instruments or st microelectronics and order the free samples you get free ICs and static bags if you have a corpret e-mail you can get free smamples from most other semiconductor manufacters as well

[tomward]

You will see that is what I have done if you look on the note on step 3, and indeed in the picture you can see that I have used the original packaging - conductive bags/tubes etc. If you do this there isn't a problem.

[Goodhart]

Hmm, especially CMOS devices. WOW, you could zap a chip / transistor just by removing it from the binder. Now, if you included conductive foam it may help.

[rjuranitch]

I'm an ex-EE just getting back into the biz and I am glad I found this article before I went out and bought all those plastic trayed boxes! Much more portable and handy!

[bkopke]

Umm, more like impossible to resist. Heading to WM in the morning! Awesome idea Tomward. Brian

[Banrman]

This project looks hard to resist. Banrman