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Posted by Mr. INTJ on August 21, 2008, 8:50 pm
I like to get some opinions from people on sorting their various parts
and hardware. I have very limited space for my home workshop...:
http://www.minsmithphoto.com/mrintj/workbench.jpg
As I've built up an inventory of components and hardware, rummaging
through random junk boxes looking for a specific part quickly became
the most time-consuming part of any project. I mounted some small
parts cabinets to my pegboard, and for some parts, like resistors &
capacitors, it was obvious how to divide them up according to value.
Not so obvious are things like screws, nuts and bolts, and other small
hardware. There seem to be an almost inifinite variety of sizes,
materials, thread types, wood screws, sheet metal screws, etc. Of
course, if I only have a handful, then it's not an issue (I'm not
_that_ anal retentive), but I have several pounds of screws, etc. in
all varieties - it takes way too long to find a certain screw (or even
worse, a matching set of two or more).
Do you folks sort your hardware into bags/drawers/etc, and if so, what
criteria do you use?
Thanks in advance.
Any other space-saving advice on workshop / workbench optimization is
greatly appreciated.
Mr. INTJ
San Diego
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Posted by Curt Welch on August 21, 2008, 10:40 pm
> I like to get some opinions from people on sorting their various parts
> and hardware. I have very limited space for my home workshop...:
> http://www.minsmithphoto.com/mrintj/workbench.jpg
Hum, bolt cutters. A tool I still have never owned. There always seems to
be another tool I feel like I must own even though I've never had a use for
them!
I guess you don't open your garage door very often since you seem to have
taken to using it for your hangers! :)
I don't like peg-boards anymore. I gave up on them long ago. It sure is
nice to see all your tools on the board but before too long, you have too
many tools and not enough space on the peg board. In addition, most the
peg board hooks don't stay in well, they tend to fall out when you try to
take tools off the peg board. I use tool chests with slide out drawers and
shelves for all my tools now. It works much better, but the tool chests
can be expensive and take up a lot of room.
But that's not what you were asking....
> As I've built up an inventory of components and hardware, rummaging
> through random junk boxes looking for a specific part quickly became
> the most time-consuming part of any project. I mounted some small
> parts cabinets to my pegboard, and for some parts, like resistors &
> capacitors, it was obvious how to divide them up according to value.
Back 30 years ago when I was last actually building electronic stuff, I did
the same thing you did - use those chests of plastic parts drawers to sort
out the standard parts like resistors and capacitors. They work ok, but
they are kinda tough to dig through. Pulling out each little drawer is
kinda slow and awkward and they tend to sick a lot (or get stuck when all
the leads from the 100 caps you put in the drawer start sticking out the
wrong way)..
> Not so obvious are things like screws, nuts and bolts, and other small
> hardware. There seem to be an almost inifinite variety of sizes,
> materials, thread types, wood screws, sheet metal screws, etc. Of
> course, if I only have a handful, then it's not an issue (I'm not
> _that_ anal retentive), but I have several pounds of screws, etc. in
> all varieties - it takes way too long to find a certain screw (or even
> worse, a matching set of two or more).
> Do you folks sort your hardware into bags/drawers/etc, and if so, what
> criteria do you use?
I use clear plastic parts bins which I store in multiple drawers of a large
tool chest (the standard mechanics sort of thing when wheels and many
shallow drawers). I can open one drawer, and see all the screews, bolts
parts, etc laid out in the draw and fairly quickly spot what I need.
Instead of trying to pull out and look at 20 of those tiny plastic draws in
the parts chest like you have, I can pull out one big drawer, and see all
the screws and small parts in about 4 parts bins. Or when I buy screws by
the box, I can put the boxes in the drawers as well. This makes the
searching for the right part go much faster. I roughly sort the parts by
drawer with machine screws in one drawer, wood and metal screws in another,
etc. But other than the rough major sorting like that, it's mostly just
random in the drawer. Because you see everything in the drawer quickly,
it's not really so important for there to be any order to it.
Another trick I have used for the larger boxes of nails and screws which
tend to get piled on shelves is to use a hot glue gun and glue one of the
nails to the outside of the box so I can quickly see what type of nail or
screw is in the box without opening it. That also makes searching for the
right sized fastener go quicker if you have accumulated many boxes of nails
and fasteners like I have.
If you can't justify the cost or space for a good mechanics tool chest with
lots of big drawers, you might look into options of just adding (or
building) some large flat pull-out drawers to your current
shelves/workbench and then using those for all those little parts.
> Thanks in advance.
> Any other space-saving advice on workshop / workbench optimization is
> greatly appreciated.
> Mr. INTJ
> San Diego
--
Curt Welch http://CurtWelch.Com/
curt@kcwc.com http://NewsReader.Com/
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Posted by Mr. INTJ on August 22, 2008, 1:35 am
On Aug 21, 7:40 pm, c...@kcwc.com (Curt Welch) wrote:
> > I like to get some opinions from people on sorting their various parts
> > and hardware. I have very limited space for my home workshop...:
> > http://www.minsmithphoto.com/mrintj/workbench.jpg
> Hum, bolt cutters. A tool I still have never owned. There always seems to
> be another tool I feel like I must own even though I've never had a use for
> them!
I actually find myself pulling down the bolt cutters surprisingly
often, but I may be doing that for tasks where you'd use a more
appropriate tool that I don't own. ;-)
> I guess you don't open your garage door very often since you seem to have
> taken to using it for your hangers! :)
Yeah, we remodeled the garage into a portrait studio for my wife last
summer, so the garage door is now disconnected from the opener and
locked shut.
> I don't like peg-boards anymore. I gave up on them long ago. It sure is
> nice to see all your tools on the board but before too long, you have too
> many tools and not enough space on the peg board. In addition, most the
> peg board hooks don't stay in well, they tend to fall out when you try to
> take tools off the peg board.
Yes, mine did that too and it was infuriating. I got some of these
little plastic retaining clips and put them everywhere. Now they stay
put.
> I use tool chests with slide out drawers and
> shelves for all my tools now. It works much better, but the tool chests
> can be expensive and take up a lot of room.
> But that's not what you were asking....
(snip)
> I use clear plastic parts bins which I store in multiple drawers of a large
> tool chest (the standard mechanics sort of thing when wheels and many
> shallow drawers). I can open one drawer, and see all the screws, bolts
> parts, etc laid out in the draw and fairly quickly spot what I need.
> Instead of trying to pull out and look at 20 of those tiny plastic draws in
> the parts chest like you have, I can pull out one big drawer, and see all
> the screws and small parts in about 4 parts bins. Or when I buy screws by
> the box, I can put the boxes in the drawers as well. This makes the
> searching for the right part go much faster. I roughly sort the parts by
> drawer with machine screws in one drawer, wood and metal screws in another,
> etc. But other than the rough major sorting like that, it's mostly just
> random in the drawer. Because you see everything in the drawer quickly,
> it's not really so important for there to be any order to it.
I'll give that some serious thought. The difficulty is more in terms
of available space than expense, but you make an excellent point about
being able to look down on everything, instead of sliding out one
drawer after another.
> Another trick I have used for the larger boxes of nails and screws which
> tend to get piled on shelves is to use a hot glue gun and glue one of the
> nails to the outside of the box so I can quickly see what type of nail or
> screw is in the box without opening it. That also makes searching for the
> right sized fastener go quicker if you have accumulated many boxes of nails
> and fasteners like I have.
Wow, great tip!
> If you can't justify the cost or space for a good mechanics tool chest with
> lots of big drawers, you might look into options of just adding (or
> building) some large flat pull-out drawers to your current
> shelves/workbench and then using those for all those little parts.
Maybe I can mount some trays under the some of my shelves. To save
bench space, I already salvaged a discarded keyboard tray and mounted
it under one side of the work bench.
> > Thanks in advance.
> > Any other space-saving advice on workshop / workbench optimization is
> > greatly appreciated.
> > Mr. INTJ
> > San Diego
> --
> Curt Welch http://CurtWelch.Com/
> c...@kcwc.com http://NewsReader.Com/
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Posted by Joe Pfeiffer on August 22, 2008, 10:43 am
While I agree about peg hooks, the solution isn't to do without the
pegboard, it's to use toggle bolts to hold tool racks to it. Most of
the tools will still go in the boxes (unless you have nwowhere near
enough tools!), but some of the most commonly-used can go on the wall.
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Posted by Curt Welch on August 22, 2008, 4:29 pm
> While I agree about peg hooks, the solution isn't to do without the
> pegboard, it's to use toggle bolts to hold tool racks to it. Most of
> the tools will still go in the boxes (unless you have nwowhere near
> enough tools!), but some of the most commonly-used can go on the wall.
Yeah, I think for electronics work that could make sense. I've not done
any real electronics work (except on the kitchen table) since I was in high
school 30 years ago. I do more woodworking, and metalworking, and home
maintenance stuff these days and for that, you have to deal with dust and
messy stuff like iron filings from grinding. Having tools out on a peg
board just gives the dust more places to make messy. It's easier to keep
things clean when most the tools are in closed drawers. I could see peg
boards working for an electronics bench if you didn't use those peg-board
hooks which pop out so easily (or found a way to secure them).
The other place I had tried peg board long ago was in the garage for yard
tools. Again, that's not a good fit because most peg boards don't work
very well for larger yard tools (shovels, rakes, etc). My last technique
for organizing the garage yard tools was just to attach horizontal 2x4s to
the wall and then screw in those large organizer hooks that can hold things
like shovels. It was an idea copied from my neighbor which has worked well
for me.
--
Curt Welch http://CurtWelch.Com/
curt@kcwc.com http://NewsReader.Com/
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> and hardware. I have very limited space for my home workshop...:
> http://www.minsmithphoto.com/mrintj/workbench.jpg