you part storage scheme

[djacobow]

This may be a beginner question, but I'm curious what the "state of the art" is in organizing and storing parts. I can't help myself when I need one or three of something, I often order 50 or 100 because the overall price is cheap and the volume discount curve is steep. Plus, I like the feeling that I have plenty of something that I can destroy and still have more on hand.

I'm using a mix of flat plastic boxes with movable dividers and tall plastic drawer cases with lots of little drawers.

I'm not really thrilled with either method, especially for small SMD parts. I have not found dividers that seal well enough to keep SMD parts from mixing. Dividing drawers seems particularly ineffective.

I bought a few resistor and capacitor kits that put all the parts in sleeves, with a cut strip or two of each value per row. The sleeves are like the film negative holders photographers of a certain age will remember well. They all go into a binder. It's actually quite elegant. But I can't find those sleevers, and 35mm negative holders are too wide to snugly hold all but the largest components (which mostly come in trays anyway, not reels/strip). What I really like about this method is how space-efficient it is. I am very tight on lab space.

[KC0PPH]

I use what you are using with the exception that my SMD parts are in one of these. I have not fully transitioned to SMD yet so I am still working out storage and such but find these boxes to be quite nice. The biggest shocker is they look big in the auction but are really small (size of a small book).

I plan to get 1 filled up with a 177 value resistor kit (once i get my next month "allowance" from the wife) and another one with SMD caps and inductors.

The larger SMD devices (TQFP TSSOP and the 3 pin gizzies) I keep in drawers like you are talking about.

I think adafruit or one of the other cheesy Arduino shops sell a modular version of that box but as i recall they are pricey and look like legos (wife wants things looking nice too).

Anyways here is the link and hope it helps out a bunch!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290506600286?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

[kolonelkadat]

I typically leave items in whatever bag they come in. the bags then go in a filing cabinet or a box.

There are times im tempted to take things out of the bags, but every time I think it would be nice to have seperate little compartments for everything I remember how much of a pain in the ass it would be to lose the labels with the barcodes and manufacturers part# and everything.

[djacobow]

Thanks, guys, that box with all the little compartment looks pretty good for some of the smaller parts, for sure.

I also appreciate what the Kolonel has to say about the original bags with all their markings. It is very useful to have them. But those baggies and original packaging take up a lot of space, or are awkwardly shaped, as when 30 opamps arrive in a foot of tube. I've also noticed that if you try to fold up parts in a baggie very carefully so that they fit in  drawer, the baggy invariably unfolds over time and makes opening and closing the drawer a challenge.

[fs]

Just gone through this my self, for my old thru-hole stuff, and my newly growing collection of SMD.

I wanted something a bit more consistent than the varied assortment of clear non-ESD / ESD / etc packaging, and something I could "thumb through" easier than just pouring out a heap of randomly sized/ colored baggies on the table, and rummaging through them

I bought a bulk lot of 3M 4"x6" static shielding bags that have a Zip-Top on eBay, and some basic paper self-adhesive labels.  I put everything into these "standard" sized bags that I can then file away as I please.  Having a standard size makes them easier to arrange in boxes/ drawers etc, and 4x6" seemed like a useful general size to hold the vast majority of components.

I "summarise" the component info on a new external label to help me sort them - eg SMD-0805-R-2.2K or TH-DIP-7400 (you get the idea), and for the detailed specs, I clip off the original supplier's label and include it in the bag - I can read it through the bag if I care to do so.

So far, its good enough to give me a consistent "package" for storage, and easily locating candidate parts, and I still retain the original labels from the supplier for the detailed info so I can track down the data sheets.

[nixfu]

Has anyone noticed what looks like a SPINNING parts tray thing on the left end of Dave's bench along the wall near the exit door?

I need to ask Dave about that.

Its this thing right here. I believe I have actually seen Dave spin it around.  It kinda looks like a cabinet with four parts tray cabinet things in it that you can spin around.

[SirNick]

I use those Plano bead / tackle boxes for through-hole parts.  Not actually Plano brand because they're so flimsy and the dividers aren't snug enough to keep parts from mixing, but the local hardware store carries a "Husky" brand that is really quite good and even a tad cheaper.  I clip off part of the Digikey label that has the DK part # and description and keep that in the compartment.

For ICs, I keep the Digikey boxes and label them (timers, logic, MOSFETs, MCUs, op-amps, etc...) as storage for the anti-static bags.

For SMD parts, I use the Adafruit / Sparkfun lego boxes.  They're cheap enough but actually pretty decent.  I use the green ones for 0806 for e.g., and just cut the tape every 15 parts or so.  I have 1k and 10k resistors loose but found that was kind of a mistake.  Too easy to lose them.

[mariush]

Capacitors, inductors, bolts, nuts, screws in safety match cardboard boxes (the big ones holding 300+ sticks), then in digikey/farnell shipping boxes.   
I do have a small plastic rack with small compartments but the plastic compartments are small and don't like it.

Through hole resistors I just use ziploc bags for each value with a label on the bag and then stack the bags neatly in another box. It's not efficient and I have to figure out some better system and some better boxes (plastic or wood instead of digikey boxes) but I manage to do just fine for now.

[rob77]

i'm using transparent boxes for parts - they are space saving and you have good overview all the time. 10 of those larger ones give you place for 180 kinds of parts.
and no, i'm not keeping the SMT parts in the strips - those little boxes are better for me. i'm not doing too much  SMT - so checking the parts with the tweezers probe connected to my meter works well (if i'm not too lazy then i usually write down the part name/value to the box directly - so no need to measure )

[jlmoon]

i'm using transparent boxes for parts - they are space saving and you have good overview all the time. 10 of those larger ones give you place for 180 kinds of parts.
and no, i'm not keeping the SMT parts in the strips - those little boxes are better for me. i'm not doing too much  SMT - so checking the parts with the tweezers probe connected to my meter works well (if i'm not too lazy then i usually write down the part name/value to the box directly - so no need to measure )

Rob,
Have you ever had any ESD troubles using those poly boxes?

JLM

[rob77]

i'm using transparent boxes for parts - they are space saving and you have good overview all the time. 10 of those larger ones give you place for 180 kinds of parts.
and no, i'm not keeping the SMT parts in the strips - those little boxes are better for me. i'm not doing too much  SMT - so checking the parts with the tweezers probe connected to my meter works well (if i'm not too lazy then i usually write down the part name/value to the box directly - so no need to measure )

Rob,
Have you ever had any ESD troubles using those poly boxes?

JLM

not at all. not a single damaged part yet. i was a bit worried at first, but it's just ok. those are made by Pro'sKit and are intended for storing parts - i don't think they're conductive, but at least they're not accumulating charge ( i assume )

[SirNick]

In fact, they probably are -- because they're specifically not conductive, nor disapative.  Not that I haven't been tempted to use them anyway.  I do store LEDs in those.

[Terabyte2007]

I am using dozens of plastic small parts boxes, static bags and several large cart parts organizers which seem to have low ESD properties. Anything ESD sensitive gets a proper bag or foam before storing away.