Last weekend I was working on a project and I needed 4mm x 40mm cap screws. Turns out I didn't find any so I changed the design to accommodate 35mm cap screws. Not a big deal.

The problem is that my cap screws were laying in a bin only sorted for pitch diameter and not length. That's 10 minutes of searching for something that was there but not apparent.

I hate the distraction and wasted time.

I am not switching to the many little plastic divider arrangements I've seen on YouTube. Too many longer bolts won't fit little boxes and drawers.

I just happened to have little zip lock baggies I got for free along the way that worked out really well.

The two major benefits to this level of organization is that I can see what I have in seconds, and I also know what sizes I need with a quick glance. I can make a quick list for when I hit my bolt supplier buying by the pound.







This is where I store the bins



Sure it took some time and was a pain in the ass, but damn is it nice to flip through the bin and find what I need in a few seconds. This will result in me buying more bolts but I won't accidentally buy stuff I already have.


I'm sure I'll get crap from the folks who drive to the hardware and pay $1 a bolt or more every time a project comes up. I'd rather have them on hand for pennies on the dollar.

I envy your hardware organization

I need to get more organized.  The top of my old tool box is my "throw random fasteners here" catch-all.  I think there's some rusty razor blades in there, too.

I envy the work space!  Once I get the little one car garage cleaned out (Mom had a lot of crap in there) I want to put a small workspace in the back.

The workbench on the right is where my bench grinders and wire brush is. Keeps the dirty stuff out of my machine shop. It sure is nice to keep it separate.

My kids wouldn't even have to do any death defying stunts to be able to ruin that organizational work!  In my shop they at least have to stand on a bucket, then pull themselves up on a shelf!

That is exactly the reason for this thread. I've got 26 baggies in 6mm alone. How do you sort out your cap screws and bolts and button heads in each size. Doesn't it take an eternity to find any damn thing? How do you know when you are low on something before you need it?

While I commend your tidyness, I fail to see any sort of cataloging system.  Tsk tsk....

It actually reminded me of record stores.   Man I miss thumbing through the selections.

I need one bolt or screw, I buy a box.  Eventually I don't make many trips to the store.

Dealing with that many zipper bags in anything remotely appearing like an production assembly department would suck much ass.

In production we used a lot of these.  I ended up with a couple racks of surplus drawers, not my photo:

Each bin is a diameter. Flip through the baggies and you know what you have and if you have the right size. Can't get much faster.

Those drawers are nice and cost nearly half the cost of my entire machine shop. Thank God I'm not a production shop.

The baggies are the best way I could afford to get organized without spending massive money. They are as fast or faster than the drawers and you'd need a lot more drawers. Lol!

Gas can and propane tanks under the bench grinder

Empty....lol

No such thing as an “empty” tank.

Only thing that changes is the size of the explosion and fire.

I store my personal bits and tits in baggies too.

Bins are for commercial where contents are depleted and re-stocked frequently.

  You're German ancestry, right?

Damn.

How do you guys get through life?

Empty spare gas cans and empty propane tanks are enough to send you running? Are you serious? A full propane tank that isn't leaking would be fine but those are on a shelf 15 ft away. The gas is 30 ft away.

German and English. The organization has been heavenly since I did it. So much faster and so convenient....

I thought everyone knew such things....


Attached File

They are empty. Try to keep up....

Yes, I read it. And plenty of other safety precautions regarding cylinder storage. They tend to read similar:

"Propane Tanks

Extreme care should be observed when disposing of old propane tanks. Even when seemingly empty, they still contain flammable gas which could cause an explosion.

"




But hey, it's your shop, you do you man.

I love the safety nazis who don't even bother to discuss the thread subject. Just bitch about shit that doesn't matter and has been a problem for years.

Plenty of folks here that see any type of fuel storage device and start panicking and cowering in fear. Never mind the gas tank in their car that is right next to the hot tailpipe and the cigarettebutt they flipped out the window. People are clueless, the safety precautions on fuel storage and fuel containers are written for those that lack the mental capacity to safely handle fuels and treat them with the respect they deserve.

I have these pipes that run through my house.... they have an explosive gas under pressure in them!!!

It's a surprise that we haven't blowd up by now!

Here is another huge waste of time gone.



Having your center drills, countersinks, and edge finders in a cluttered drawer is a HUGE time waster. It just wears on me looking for this stuff.  The incomplete row is 90° with 4 more coming from Bulgaria.

The rest are almost all 82°. I've got almost every size I could need and I can make a nice clean pocket for each screw size if I want instead of just having a 90° pocket coming all the way out. Neater I think.


Having your fractional on size reamers in a bin under the lathe seems smart but not when you have to sort through a few dozen to find the right one....... I drilled a 2x4 for each size from 1/8" to 1/2" in 32nd increments. I ordered the missing reamers. I can't believe I don't have a 1/2" chucking reamer.....grrrr.....

Having your over/under reamers in a cute little crappy box that you have to go get off the shelf sucks. I pulled the block with the holes out and glued it to thin plywood.

This seems silly but it will save me several minutes a job. The shelf is within arms length of the mill and a few steps from the lathe. I use a small bin to hold the tools I'm using and then they all go back when the job is done.

I can soak the wood and tools with oil very easily so they will be oiled much more often. Less chance of rusting under a table.....