I have a wall of drawers, but I often go to customers' plants. I have a=20 couple of these: http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Innovage-Hardware-Caddy/553416/product= ..html They hold quite an assortment of parts, and fit nicely in the trunk of=20 my Miata! Kerry Mike Harrison wrote: > On Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:17:15 +0000, you wrote: > > =20 >> On 23/12/2010 12:33, Olin Lathrop wrote: >> =20 >>> Oli Glaser wrote: >>> =20 >>>> That is a problem with electronics though - so many tiny little parts >>>> to keep track of... >>>> =20 >>> The answer is lots of small parts cabinets. I like Akro Mils 10164, wh= ich >>> have 64 little drawers each. I just checked and that model seems to ha= ve >>> been replaced by 10764, although it's not obvious what changed from the >>> description. >>> >>> I'm looking at our wall of parts, and we have five 10164 in use with an= other >>> 20 or so of other types. We have another eight 10164 in boxes ready fo= r >>> expansion. These things are not expensive, even for hobbyists. 1 3/4 = x 1/2 >>> inch labels fit nicely on the individual drawers. >>> >>> =20 >> They look pretty good - we already have a few similar cabinets from RS=20 >> which are reasonable quality ( just not enough.. :-) ) >> Main problem really is lack of space in current workroom, though we are= =20 >> looking at moving to a different site very nearby quite soon - already=20 >> set up with huge workbench and can accommodate three people a lot more=20 >> easily. So the space problem will be solved pretty soon, just need a=20 >> load more cabinets - I checked for the ones you mention above and they=20 >> are quite a bit cheaper(than our current ones) but unfortunately I can't= =20 >> find any in the UK, will have to have a shop around and see what I can=20 >> find. >> =20 > > Jellybean stuff like SM resistors and caps are generally in long enough t= apes that a binder solution > works well. Farnell sell spare binder pages for their resistor kits which= are ideal.=20 > http://uk.farnell.com/multicomp/mcinsert-chipkit/file-insert-component-st= orage-pk5/dp/5412067?Ntt=3D5412067 > > However these are only good for 8mm wide tape, and only lengths long enou= gh not to get lost down the > long cavities. Iin the past I've also used film negative and baseball car= d binders. > > For through-hole parts with relatively few values, e.g. capacitors, elec= trolytics, common > transistors, trimmers etc., Raaco and similar assorter boxes work well, b= ut compartment boxes don't > work well with SMD tapes > > That leaves all the ICs and other more random parts which are a collectio= n of SM and DIP, in tapes, > tubes, sample boxes, bags and loose, in typical qtys from 1 to 20 per typ= e. > > Over the years, I've distilled the storage criteria down as follows : > 1) You want to store them by type/function per box (e.g. RS232 drivers, v= oltage regulators, 74HC > CMOS, opamps etc.), not by individual part numbers as there are too many = different types. > 2) The container must be reasonably long in at least one dimension to acc= ommodate tapes and cut-down > tubes > 3) The container must be reasonably shallow so you can stack lots of them= in a reasonable space, and > can easily see parts at the bottom > 4) Need to be able to quickly find parts within a container > 5) Need to be able to just chuck parts into the right box when clearing u= p after a project but be > able to find them easily later > 6) Cheap - I need at least 40-50 of them to cover the range of parts I wa= nt to store. > 7) Need to be continuously available, so you can expand as required. or c= heap enough to buy plenty > of spare. > > 2 precludes almost every type of cheap very small plastic box - e.g. jewe= lery display/sample boxes > etc. > 4 and 5 preclude boxes full of poly bags - too fiddly & just ends up as a= mess. > 6 Precludes most of the stuff specifically targetted at the electronics i= ndustry > > So just a basic undivided wide, shallow plastic box with a lid of some = sort, into which I can put > a sheet of conductive foam to hold DIPs. Once you've lined the bottom wi= th conductive foam, the box > itself doesn't need to be anything exotic like antistatic. Clear is nice,= but not essential. > Not hard to find you'd think... actually surprisingly so! > > I recently stumbled upon these, which are pretty much perfect : > http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/5-x-PEEL-OFF-STICKER-BOXES-PLASTIC-STORAGE-CONTAINE= RS-/390229081229?pt=3DUK_Crafts_StickersScraps_Decoupage_SM > > =20 --=20 Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.289 / Virus Database: 267.11.13 - Release Date: 10/6/05 --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .