Screw & small parts organization

[Guest]

43 minutes ago, C Shaffer said:

I cannot imagine hardware causing a storage concern, and I have way more than some. My framing, roofing, siding, and drywall bulk are in lidded square buckets that stack. A few of these discussed trays in cabinets or drawers are plenty out of the way. The question about lid interface is the key. You don't want to resort a tray Ever. 

For me, It is not really about the space it takes.  It is more about the time.  Trying to keep every random thing organized is hard for me.  Some people are just naturally good at sorting out random things.  I am not.  So I just keep on hand stuff I know I will use and dump the rest.  I'd rather do that than have a bunch of disorganized junk drawers.    Amazon prime makes it easy to order small random things, and I have a few good hardware stores within a 5 minute drive (as an aside, buying hardware at Home Depot is really frustrating, my locally owned Ace does a better job of keeping it organized.  But if I know exactly what I need, I order from Amazon).    This is from the perspective of a hobbyist furniture maker.  DIY, contracting and professional cabinet making are totally different games.  That being said, my cousin owned a custom cabinet shop and he inventoried a surprising limited amount of hardware - Shelf pins, space balls, drawer box screws, finish screws, euro hinges, drawer slides and cabinet screws in a couple different sizes.  That was really it - when you are as specialized as he was you get it down to a science.

 

 

[Elroy Skimms]

I started out using some Husky containers, similar to the same Harbor Freight parts containers Gee-Dub uses, with a bag to carry them around. I was very mobile. Folding table saw in the trunk of my Optima. Dragging stuff around from one project (or friend in need of remodeling help) to another.

The bins eventually filled up and I couldn't hold adequate quantities of my most common hardware. I converted the containers into drill bit storage/organizers (works great except really small bits (<1mm) don't stay in their assigned bins when the containers go in the bag) and I swapped to the Husky box wdwerker uses for hardware.

Mobility stopped being a thing for me when I built a giant CNC machine in my garage, and churning out cabinets meant I needed to keep more hardware on hand than the tackle-box would support. So I went to Harbor Freight and bought a bunch of these stacking containers. I threw away the wall-hanging brackets and I lined a 24" wide x 6" deep drawer with 2 layers of these bins.

Most frequently used items on top, and I still have easy access to the lower level items without moving things around. Plus the added bonus of being able to grab a bin and move it across the garage if I need more than a handful of screws. The drawer is heavy, about 40 lbs of stuff in it, but the 75lb soft-close drawer slides work great.

-E

[davestanton]

Here is mine.