I sorted mine by manufacturer -- ADI, TXN, etc. But the drawers are now stuffed. Suggestions welcome!
Sell them. Stuff in drawers stays in drawers. Then more is bought filling more drawers. The final result is full drawers at an age that one does not build stuff regularly anymore. When building something newer/better parts exist that will be bought and also a few spare ones of those must be stuffed in drawers....
Full circle with regards to non efficiency and a house full of stuff. The hard part is accepting this and the low (almost nil/0) gains it brings. Many of us stare at quantities of parts but what does it really bring?
Another system is to buy exactly the right amount of parts per project. Seems more expensive but in the end it is not. One also keeps up with the state of technology at the right time. Of course no one could have predicted the shortage of parts we experience right now (which tends to confirm the stocking of stuff being a right decision) but then again: one normally chooses new(er) parts for a DIY design.
Full circle with regards to non efficiency and a house full of stuff. The hard part is accepting this and the low (almost nil/0) gains it brings. Many of us stare at quantities of parts but what does it really bring?
Another system is to buy exactly the right amount of parts per project. Seems more expensive but in the end it is not. One also keeps up with the state of technology at the right time. Of course no one could have predicted the shortage of parts we experience right now (which tends to confirm the stocking of stuff being a right decision) but then again: one normally chooses new(er) parts for a DIY design.
Last edited:
I keep mine in notebooks. I glue conductive foam to Manila page dividers. The ICs are the stuck into the foam. Pretty much can find the part I want almost instantly. A book for analog, logic and even one for transistors. Easily store more than 200 ICs per page and perhaps 15 pages in the largest binder. Works a bit better than say 1,000 small plastic drawers. Takes up a lot less space. Also have a binder with vinyl pockets to hold 1% resistors.
Of course the ICs I use for products I make and sell come on reels in cardboard boxes. 50,000 or so parts I keep in stock occupy about a foot of shelf space. (I can easily use these parts up faster than I can currently get new ones!)
Hardest thing to store are audio transformers. I have 10,000 in stock just for my current product run!
Of course the ICs I use for products I make and sell come on reels in cardboard boxes. 50,000 or so parts I keep in stock occupy about a foot of shelf space. (I can easily use these parts up faster than I can currently get new ones!)
Hardest thing to store are audio transformers. I have 10,000 in stock just for my current product run!
Last edited:
I have some ESD safe Flambeau brand storage boxes with compartments that I use for storage of small handfuls of the parts I most commonly use. I have a box without compartments for samples that I didn't want to throw out at my latest lab purge. I sort the parts by analog, digital, discrete but don't bother sorting within each box. The boxes only have 16-20 compartments and I have a total of four of those boxes so it doesn't take much time to go through them.
Larger quantities of ICs are either on reels or in tubes in ESD bags and boxes. Passives on reels go in banker's boxes.
I tend to agree with Jean-Paul: If you don't use the parts or haven't touched them in years toss them or sell them. Give them away at Burning Amp or through the Swap Meet.
Whatever you do for storage make sure it's ESD safe. I cringe when I see ads featuring ICs in Tupperware containers and whatnot. A damaged IC is worse than no IC at all.
Tom
Larger quantities of ICs are either on reels or in tubes in ESD bags and boxes. Passives on reels go in banker's boxes.
I tend to agree with Jean-Paul: If you don't use the parts or haven't touched them in years toss them or sell them. Give them away at Burning Amp or through the Swap Meet.
Whatever you do for storage make sure it's ESD safe. I cringe when I see ads featuring ICs in Tupperware containers and whatnot. A damaged IC is worse than no IC at all.
Tom
There are people that stock defective parts (of course never labelled "defective") mixed with good parts only to always choose the defective ones by coincidence when building something 🙂 These often also stock quantities of defective devices that will be repaired "sometimes" not recognizing the inability to repair.
Incomprehensible.
Last edited:
Exactly that. Having witnessed a few cases I get the feeling many think they can go back in time or that they can win time. It happens way more than one thinks and it seems not many become happier by doing so. Those who clean up after certainly are not happier 😀
Sorry for being off topic but I think it should be known as it is a real risk that may enter a life with consequences.
Sorry for being off topic but I think it should be known as it is a real risk that may enter a life with consequences.
Last edited:
I am currently selling off a hoard of stuff accumulated by someone else. Enough Neve parts for two mixing consoles and lots of extra input modules, Scully and Ampex tape decks, among other bits including a pair of Meyer loudspeakers. Making it all work is slowing things down.
However my hoard of extra and older parts does make repairing the gizmo’s much easier.
However my hoard of extra and older parts does make repairing the gizmo’s much easier.
Went through a flood some years back. Lesson was don’t acquire stuff just to collect it. Folks helping clean up threw out stuff they had no concept of what it was or the value.
Stuff like triceratops ridge bone fossils, a dire wolf skull, Western Electric gold diaphragm condenser microphones even some rather obscure antique carbon microphones.
One lesson from cleaning out places is that just about everyone collects something, from old magazines to kitchen tools.
Some stuff builds up because it surprisingly did not sell. Anyone need a 2,000 watt US FM transmitter?
Stuff like triceratops ridge bone fossils, a dire wolf skull, Western Electric gold diaphragm condenser microphones even some rather obscure antique carbon microphones.
One lesson from cleaning out places is that just about everyone collects something, from old magazines to kitchen tools.
Some stuff builds up because it surprisingly did not sell. Anyone need a 2,000 watt US FM transmitter?
Collorary to some obscure law: material will always accumulate to fill up available space.
The only solution is to move to smaller quarters.
Jan
The only solution is to move to smaller quarters.
Jan
Ten-thousand audio transformers? For a single product run?
Wow!
Just curious, would you show a sample of what your products are?
Can´t even imagine such numbers anywhere, not even in China.
More often than not the people involved in hoarding already live in small houses/apartments. I think it is even one of the required parameters so it is not the solution to stop it but a necessity to start it.
I take the other parameters are well known?!
Last edited:
Juan,
https://www.simonsound.com/m2c-vandal-resistant-dual-channel-condenser-microphone
These are currently scheduled, but not yet ordered to go into the worlds most musical prison!
With the ongoing parts shortage I really need to plan ahead. One of the parts I use for the device is quoted as more than a year out. So there will be a redesign coming. Prototype run will be 100 units!
Last edited:
jean-paul,
Just curious, how many audio reproduction components do you have? (D/As, preamps, amplifiers, etc.)
😉
Just curious, how many audio reproduction components do you have? (D/As, preamps, amplifiers, etc.)
😉
Having cleaned out a few places, it seems everyone collects something. A true hoarder just doesn’t throw anything away. Stuff gets in the way for even moving around.
My actual bit of pain comes from not keeping things organized and being able to find what you need.
I am often surprised by folks who don’t grasp the concept that items placed on shelves need to always be visible. Hiding things behind stuff might just be the first sign of hoarding.
Cleaning up I have found means different things. One person I know puts everything in places that are out of sight, so everything looks clean. Open a closet at your own risk as so much is crammed in it might just shower you with junk.
My bad habit is that I may allow something to lay about until I figure out where it should be stored. At times makes things look cluttered.
As I have a large building some folks think they can store their junk in it. Worst case is I accidentally get some spray paint on a Picasso!
(That was an Aztec Picasso loudspeaker!)
I swear the stuff in my lab actually compresses while in the lab and expands as it's put into moving boxes. The process seems highly nonlinear. My lab is a very, very dense room and most of that is from test equipment.
My dad used to say, "throw it out if you haven't used it in a year". I'll add, "*certain limitations and restrictions apply". I'm not about to throw out my 20-32 mm socket wrenches even though I haven't used a single one of them in probably a decade.
Tom