Arranging your electronic parts

[pred]

Hi all,

recently I have changed the appartement and was moving my electronic parts. What came out is that a lot of them I was having in carton boxes and not really arranged. Once or twice I was surprised to find that I was buying two times the components I already have. So I am starting to look for a good arrangement scheme. Esepcially for the resistors and diodes, so components with long leads and quite a different values. For capacitors and transistors I use Raaco sorting boxes.

I do not have a shed and won't have one a long time (ahhh still dreaming of my proper electronic lab). So something movable and "portable" as a solution is what I am looking for. Do you have any ideas.

Also do you have an info on a good software to make your database of components. That could help a lot, especially if it is a freeware.

Thank you in advance!

Pred

PS
For tubes I found kind a solution.

[peufeu]

For resistors, capacitors etc. I store them in compartimented boxes (available at your average home improvement store), sorted by value, ignoring the zeros. For instance, 1k, 10k and 100k go together. This allows me to only use less "slots".

For SMD components, it's a mess, though.

[jc2]

For SMD passives I took a lesson from my previous employer and use glass vials. The ones I use are about 15mm in diameter and 40mm tall with a screw on lid. They came in a cardboard box with dividers so they stand up and stay in their place.

For other stuff I have a much less organized way of doing it. I have cheap rolling set of drawers that I keep stuff loose in. A drawer for caps, a drawer for semiconductors, a drawer for mechanical stuff like switches and connectors.

I've tried to keep track with Excel what I have, but I don't do a good job of keeping up with it, and in general I do better just remembering what I have, and what I need to get.

[dietcoke]

I use flambeau polypropylene compartment boxes and I use a slot or 2 for a few packets of moisture absorption silicate.

[jacco vermeulen]

I steal filmroll boxes, lots of them.

[poobah]

I find paper envelopes in a matching box very good... plenty of space to write on and very dense.

[jacco vermeulen]

Only for C-notes, works great.

An envelope for the rent, alimony, one for my booky, drugdealer, mob
Ocassionally i mail myself a gift envelope with components.

[pred]

This with paper envelopes is great idea. I will modify it a little bit, since I have a lot of plastic bags in which the components are shiped so I can put them inthere. I will borrow a shoe box from a wife so she could contribute as well

Pred

[pred]

I also saw this system with compcards (there are some in farnell) which seems very good, for smd as well. The only problem is I could find only with resistors or capacitors already in them. There are no empty one for sale. I will see with the company directly if I could obtain some empty.

[Nordic]

I might as well start keeping everything in a black bag... actualy finding my stuff seems to bring as much joy as completeing a project these days. Will be moving house soon, then I can bring in my grandad's old metalworking desk... its huge, we needed a flatbed truck to move it last time, it has enough subdivided drawers to make me happy..