Found this image on Google.
Owning a couple of tube amps and some spare tubes feels harmless in comparison...
Ok, maybe more than a coupe of tube amps and quite a few tubes that don't belong in any amp.
And a few speakers. And a box or two of random parts. Did I say box? I meant a room. But still...:
Owning a couple of tube amps and some spare tubes feels harmless in comparison...
Ok, maybe more than a coupe of tube amps and quite a few tubes that don't belong in any amp.
And a few speakers. And a box or two of random parts. Did I say box? I meant a room. But still...:
In my younger days I used to pick up vintage computers just to play around with, stuff like a MicroVAX, SGI Personal Iris, NeXT slab, etc etc. Workstations that were expensive when new but worthless then. I either scrapped or got rid of all of it. That is one of my biggest regrets. It's not even about what the stuff is worth now but the rarity.
Tubes aren't the only thing to take up space, you need to stay on top of the components or you'll never find anything, just a bit of one of four component cabinets. When I buy something from Mouser I generally buy 10 to get the price break even if I only need 4, it adds up.
Windcrest, I too suffer from the spend more money to save money thing! I need two but I’ll buy 10 to save %10! In my mind it works! You are much more organized than I am. I put it in ziplock bags by value then in boxes by device type, resistors, caps, semis, etc.. I do group the resistors by wattage in larger bags. It all works in my mind! I try to have a few of everything I will need on hand so I don’t have to wait for something to get here unless it’s an odd value. My gf just looks at all this stuff and shakes her head. I look at her shoes and do the same thing!
All I can read and see in this thread is passion and I would 100 times prefer to be passionate than not to be.
Now, and after 30 years, I feel that the flame is flickering, that I need air.
I stopped talking about the number of hifi equipment and components that I own, I speak in weight and I have had so many over the years that I am unable to say the number, add to that around fifteen motorcycles and the cup is full, I only have one a s s and two ears, it's time to empty.
I divorced and bought a house to renovate 4 years ago, my basement and my attic are so full that I have to tinker outside, it's ridiculous.
For me, it all started the day I walked into an independent technician's store to ask for a hand in repairing a Monarch amp that my father had given me before he left home and this technician took a liking to me, taught me the basics and when he retired a year or two later, called me to come, he had prepared several bags and boxes of components for me give them to me, I hope in turn, to be able to do the same thing.
The pilgrim realizes after the journey that it is the path that counts and not the destination, I am happy to have made this path.
Now, and after 30 years, I feel that the flame is flickering, that I need air.
I stopped talking about the number of hifi equipment and components that I own, I speak in weight and I have had so many over the years that I am unable to say the number, add to that around fifteen motorcycles and the cup is full, I only have one a s s and two ears, it's time to empty.
I divorced and bought a house to renovate 4 years ago, my basement and my attic are so full that I have to tinker outside, it's ridiculous.
For me, it all started the day I walked into an independent technician's store to ask for a hand in repairing a Monarch amp that my father had given me before he left home and this technician took a liking to me, taught me the basics and when he retired a year or two later, called me to come, he had prepared several bags and boxes of components for me give them to me, I hope in turn, to be able to do the same thing.
The pilgrim realizes after the journey that it is the path that counts and not the destination, I am happy to have made this path.
A single 1/4 watt 5% film resistor costs between 10 cents and 35 cents from Mouser or Digikey. 100 of the same resistors cost between $1.70 and $3.60. Back when I made up these bins (somewhere in the 1980's) those costs were lower. A single resistor was always close to 10 cents but a pack of 100 was $1. In the early days most of the bins were empty. Now most of them have something in them except the extreme ends of the spectrum. The 11, 13 and 16 ohm bins are still empty as are many of the bins over 1 megohm. There is a drawer for every standard 5% value from 10 ohms to 1 megohm, some random values below 10 ohms, every standard 10% value from 1 to 10 megohms plus one drawer for 22 megohms. I put everything from 1/4 watt to 2 watt resistors in the same drawer since it's easy to tell the difference.
I have similar drawers for smaller physical sized capacitors, IC chips and semiconductors, but they are far less organized and need to be redone. Tubes are still a mess. The boxed tubes are somewhat organized in trays by function and size. The loose tubes are all in bags which are in plastic totes by size.
I have similar drawers for smaller physical sized capacitors, IC chips and semiconductors, but they are far less organized and need to be redone. Tubes are still a mess. The boxed tubes are somewhat organized in trays by function and size. The loose tubes are all in bags which are in plastic totes by size.
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I’ve been “moving” for a month now, and the shop isnt even empty yet. It will take this weekend and next to do it all - or at least everything that is coming. And then there is a whole house to move.
Ive got more than a dozen of those multi drawer parts cabinets. Not even close to every resistor or cap value - I’ve decided on which preferred values to stock (ie, buy by the hundred), and get others when needed. Many many bins of semiconductors. With through-hole parts going obsolete at the rates they are, I started doing lifetime buys of everything I use about 5 years ago. Just bought the last 50 MJL21194’s I’ll probably need (projected to use darn near all of the 200+ each polarity building the 5kW production run) and the 200V/120A hexfets for solid state speaker relay duty showed up after being on backorder forever not too long before. Then there is 40 years worth of surplus, pulls, and other B stock -stuff that went obsolete long ago. Doubt I’ll ever run out of TO-3’s. Bigger E-caps, chokes, power resistors inhabit stackable Rubbermaid bins. There were enough rolls of wire to fill up two 27 gallon black plastic totes from Home Depot. That doesnt include the 250 foot rolls (or partials) of mains cable.
Ive got more than a dozen of those multi drawer parts cabinets. Not even close to every resistor or cap value - I’ve decided on which preferred values to stock (ie, buy by the hundred), and get others when needed. Many many bins of semiconductors. With through-hole parts going obsolete at the rates they are, I started doing lifetime buys of everything I use about 5 years ago. Just bought the last 50 MJL21194’s I’ll probably need (projected to use darn near all of the 200+ each polarity building the 5kW production run) and the 200V/120A hexfets for solid state speaker relay duty showed up after being on backorder forever not too long before. Then there is 40 years worth of surplus, pulls, and other B stock -stuff that went obsolete long ago. Doubt I’ll ever run out of TO-3’s. Bigger E-caps, chokes, power resistors inhabit stackable Rubbermaid bins. There were enough rolls of wire to fill up two 27 gallon black plastic totes from Home Depot. That doesnt include the 250 foot rolls (or partials) of mains cable.
@Windcrest77
Where do you get those clear plastic compartment boxes you use for resistors and other small parts. I've seen many of them but not quite the same.
thanks,
John
Where do you get those clear plastic compartment boxes you use for resistors and other small parts. I've seen many of them but not quite the same.
thanks,
John
A closeted DIYer, I see... 😂😂
I hope you don't solder in there or have some nice ventilation..
Yes is a closet that is 8 feet wide and 4 feet deep. Thank god for adjustable wire closet shelving that is installed on all 3 walls and adjusts over time, power cords pass through it easily. The bench is 5 feed by 2 feet. Yes I solder plenty in there, but never have bad fume build up.
I use the one from Harbor Freight. It turns out two of them side by side is exactly the width and depth of an IKEA PAX cabinet so not a wasted cubic inch. They are generally $4 and change but sometimes go on sale for $3 and change, that's when I bought 30 or more of them. I prefer plastic fishing tackle boxes like these than other methods, I just add another box when parts start to accumulate. As for tube storage those are literature mailer boxes in the four heights of most tubes, they look clean white and have tops that flip. Those I got from Grainger. My wife uses them too for stuff.
I see the price went up a bit, but still less than others.
https://www.harborfreight.com/24-divider-storage-container-94458.html
wg_ski, when you get to making the new shop look into adjustable wire closet shelving instead of wood. Amazing stuff for making a shop, 12, 16 and 20 inch depths, strong, adjustable, don't collect dust, and all the power wires can just flow through vertically. You just put the vertical rails in on the 16 inch center studs.
Your organization skills are incredible. Let's just say I operate at a completely different wavelength.. I just had to re-purchase some stuff I bought and are nowhere to be found.
I bought a few dryer flex ducts, joined them together and taped an old papst 120V fan close to where I solder to pipe the smoke out the window.
Relating, I...wouldnt even dare show a picture.
The Buddah said everything is empty. Not that the concrete retaining wall wont stop your heard from banging on it, but more like the satisfaction from getting, having. That google photo wouldnt be from an American home, would it? It's all empty, or the pile wouldnt be that big. 0 * 1E6 is still 0 kinda thing, at least in the limit as time goes on.
My own "mild neurosis" comes from childhood, with a dream of collecting up antique bottles, insulators, railroad paraphernalia and selling them for pocket change. Almost 2000 ebay sales over 20 years, the practice that stems from childhood mischief no longer serves at 67. It's time to change, clean up, clean out and spend that time otherwise organizing, maintaining for occasional use all the stuff that remains, doing something different.
Maintaining? I have so many guitars it would take me all day to ensure each was strung, in tune and ready to play. Forget playing every one in a day. I cant keep up with just the additional maintenance part of "a satisfaction retention effort" for these particular acquisitions. Obtained mostly from GW auctions, my wife jokes "Where do you think theyre all going to go, ultimately". When I ask rhetorically, "How can people just give this stuff away", remarking at the '61 Gibson SG that went for $10,000...
Most recent adds to the pile, a couple of tube amps from the local ham radio swap meet. Another $100 attempt at satisfaction. Maybe I'll actually do something with them - that's the plan at least!
@jjasniew
"Most recent adds to the pile, a couple of tube amps from the local ham radio swap meet. Another $100 attempt at satisfaction. Maybe I'll actually do something with them - that's the plan at least!"
I realize that I have more "stuff" than I can use in whatever time I have left, so a van load goes to the Dayton hamfest every year with the mission to return home with less stuff than I went there with. Last year was the first time I sold some of the original Tubelab amps that I built many years ago. The first ever Tubelab amp, the Lexan cased TSE is still here, but all the others are gone.
The big hamfest is about two months away so I guess it's time to start making this year's pile of stuff to bring.
"Most recent adds to the pile, a couple of tube amps from the local ham radio swap meet. Another $100 attempt at satisfaction. Maybe I'll actually do something with them - that's the plan at least!"
I realize that I have more "stuff" than I can use in whatever time I have left, so a van load goes to the Dayton hamfest every year with the mission to return home with less stuff than I went there with. Last year was the first time I sold some of the original Tubelab amps that I built many years ago. The first ever Tubelab amp, the Lexan cased TSE is still here, but all the others are gone.
Sold that white Stratocaster at the Dayton Hamfest too. I also have more guitars than I can play, since, to paraphrase huggygood, I only have two hands and two ears. That leaves 6 to 10 guitars and two bases depending on whether you count the disassembled ones and the unfinished builds.
The big hamfest is about two months away so I guess it's time to start making this year's pile of stuff to bring.