Component and Parts Storage
Contents
General[edit]
Storage is a necessary pain. What do we want from storage?
- Easy to find the parts.
- Easy to setup and maintain.
- Space efficient.
- Reasonable cost.
- Some people want to see the part.
- Safe for the part.
Here we are mostly concerned with small parts which can be a problem no matter how much space you have.
Coin Envelopes[edit]
These are small ( but available in a variety of sizes ) brown paper envelops. You can buy them in boxes of hundreds. What is good about them.
Characteristics
- Little wasted space for small parts.
- Easy to write on ( and erase and reuse ).
- Easy to sort.
- Very inexpensive ( 500 for $15 recently on Amazon ).
- Need to store them but see pictures for one way.
- Parts not very visible.
- Best for small parts.
- Unclear on static issues, but can be used with static foam or bags.
- Parts are not physically protected.
Coin Envolopes in a drawer.
Small Drawer Sets[edit]
Characteristics
- Fair amount of wasted space. Drawer takes up same space empty or full.
- Nice labels are a bit of a pain.
- Fairly easy to sort.
- Can be expensive, and almost never cheap.
- Parts fairly visible by opening the drawer.
- Unclear on static issues, but can be used with static foam or bags.
- Parts are physically protected.
Divided Storage Boxes[edit]
Plastic boxes with divided sections. A significant disadvantage is that you can not easily dump just one kind of part to root through them.
Notebooks[edit]
There are some inserts for notebooks with envelopes or pockets. Some are clear so you can see the parts. We could use some more info on this.
Baggies[edit]
Best for moderate sized parts when static is not an issue and seeing the part is. Reused washed food bags and they are free. Need a larger container to store them.
Plastic Shoe Boxes[edit]
Many are made that are easy to stack in a stable way. For larger parts. Can get ( with a good deal ) for about $1.00. May be used to hold smaller containers like baggies or coin envelopes.
