NO! no, not that! :eek:
:D

I want to change how I store my nuts, bolts, washers, lock washers, and misc fasteners etc. Right now I have a varied assortment of those storage bin units that have a couple dozen little plastic drawers; you know, the ones all the hardware stores have. The little plastic drawers have little plastic dividers and so forth. :rolleyes: These seem ok for 1/4" fasteners and smaller, but I like to have a variety of new fasteners on hand from machine screws through 1/2", and having a few lengths of 1/2" bolts don't work to well in these little plastic drawers. I can't stand working on my daily driver, lawn mower, snow blower etc. and re-using old beat up rusty hardware, so I keep a bunch of new ones on hand and I need a better storage system so I am not hunting for them, maybe increase my storage capacity a little.

I looked at some steel bins, but wow these get pricey (I think they were meant for commercial use) and didn't want to spend several hundred $ on just the bins. What do you guys have for this?? Pics would be great!! How do you organize you new (and still good used) spare fasteners??? TIA

A bunch of cardboard boxes.:D

No, really, I got most things sorted out into plastic/tupperware bins. I'll have to get some pics.

Those plastic organizers are what I use. I have a couple of large all metal organizers that I got free a few months ago but they probably wernt cheap when new.

https://ssl9.chi.us.securedata.net/theheadnut.com/merchantmanager/images/uploads/walnuts%20in%20shell.jpg

There are storage racks with the plastic drawers available with larger drawers too.

https://ssl9.chi.us.securedata.net/theheadnut.com/merchantmanager/images/uploads/walnuts%20in%20shell.jpg

And you told me that you didn't have any..........

I have them in plastic coffee cans!:)

Coffee Cans

I have mine in an old military cabinet, it has either 24 or 32 drawers and 6 cubby holes that i keep my power tools in. The cabinet has double doors as well. Ill take pictures.

I throw them out and buy new ones when I need them.
You can waste more time looking for that last 5/16 NF grade 8 bolt than its worth.
I have a very small box, about the size of a lunch box.
All that is in there is left over new bolts/nuts or some very hard to come by stuff.

thats it.

I use transparent plastic jars of the type that mayonnaise or peanut butter comes in. The range of sizes is good,it is easy to see what's inside and they seem to be holding up well. They have flat lids which makes it possible to stack them if needed.

I use transparent plastic jars of the type that mayonnaise or peanut butter comes in. The range of sizes is good,it is easy to see what's inside and they seem to be holding up well. They have flat lids which makes it possible to stack them if needed.
X2:thumbsup:

:D http://thepandafighter.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/testicles.jpg

I cant find mine been looking for a while. Think the wife took them.

I have a large pile on my workbench that spills over onto the floor

Can I borrow some andy ?Even their dogs still got em.

I have a large pile on my workbench that spills over onto the floor

Why not put them in an empty bondo can????? You know you got one!!:D

I cant find mine been looking for a while. Think the wife took them.

Check the mantle... When my buddy got married, thats where she placed them... ;)

Wrong,I look there every Christmas eve.:(

Try someone like Fastenal if one in your area...industrial supply place..keep fasteners and bins of all sizes...prices are reasonable for all metal bolt bins.

Check the local on-line auction houses. Recently in my area they closed a gas station, and liquidated the "assets" via online auction. If it was used in a gas station, it was available.... CHEAP!.... Including stocked :thumbsup: hardware bins/organizers.

Other ideas would be industrial/commercial supply houses.

Seriously:

I have the Plano plastic trays that have several compartments with a lid (sorry, no pics). These come four to a holder, they work like a removable drawer. I have three holders, making 12 removable drawers. Jars, cans and storage bins may be cheaper, but I can grab and go, rather than always running back to the bins for parts.

Here's how they shake out:
1 - automotive specific body fasteners and plastic trim clips
2 - automotive specific hardware, brakes parts, starter shims, grease fittings, shock bushings, etc.
3 - automotive plumbing fittings, flare fitting, vacuum tees...
4 - USS course bolts (one row in each tray for a given size of course)
5 - USS Nuts, USS and SAE washers
6 - SAE fine bolts, nuts
7 - Metric bolts, nuts washers
8 - Plastic plugs, rubber grommets, standoffs, spacers
9 - house hold electrical
10 - house hold plumbing
11 - screws: wood, sheetmetal, pan head, drywall
12 - house hold hardware, picture hangers, drywall anchors, carriage bolts

Extra fasteners, spares from bubble packs, and what ever else get distributed into these drawers. It's saves a lot of trips for small parts.

I have additional, larger Plano boxes for: solder-less crimp fittings, zip ties, carb parts, very large bolts.

I am so surprised no one made fun of my topic. :D

Zeke, do you mean these??? http://www.birdsallmarine.com/images/plano%20trays.jpg

Auto parts stores like Car Quest use great little bin boxes. You can buy them flat by the case and you fold them together. They measure about 5" wide by 12" long and about 4" deep. I have fabriacted special shelving for these particular boxes and they work great. I use these for the larger parts. Engine valves/springs, parts, etc.
Over the years I have come accross the plastic drawer units like you talk about, but much bigger with bigger drawers.
Best place to find these is at auto parts stores that are closing down or remodeling.

And I have a metal drawer unit that is about 1' high by 3' wide and about 1' deep. I think it has 18 drawers in all. It looks like an old card file cabinet from a library. It has metal seperators that fit into slots in the drawers also. Pretty handy.

Look at your local state or government auctions. When they upgrade to new equipment, they will have this type of stuff that they get rid of.

Thanks for all the comments guys.

It seems that the most common response here is either "I made something myself" be it glass jars, boxes or whatever OR buy something 'commercial' from an auction etc.

I was hoping to find a better consumer retail purchase as I don't have time to go to auctions and so forth, but I guess I could put the word out that is what I am looking for.

Anyone else have something they are proud of - show me some pics!! :)

Ron,

Checkout: http://cgi.ebay.com/112pc-Drawer-Organizer-Bins-Toolbox-Lista-Vidmar-Lyon_W0QQitemZ120339907369QQihZ002QQcategoryZ41953 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

These seem to be a moderately priced idea. They are designed for Lista industrial cabinets, but they also will fit into most any tool box drawer.

Right now all my stuff is in coffee cans with duct tape labels. Someday they will be organized.

And if you haven't be over there yet, checkout: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/ They have some cool things to look at. I would guess that you could find some good ideas there. (A great place to waste time at work.)

On the ground and up there and every where. And some put away.

I use one of these
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95496

I too, use the transparent peanut butter jars. My garage has walls with studs exposed, so I installed a number of 1X4 shelves between the studs, from about belt high to the ceiling. You might be surprised how much small stuff you can store between the wall studs this way. Best part is, everything is visible at a glance. I cut one corner off a 6x9x2 baking pan and use that to sift through a jar full of hardware for whatever I need. The cut corner allows me to easily and quickly put everything back in the jar without spillage.
I also have a section of 4X4 hanging horizontally from the ceiling over the workbench, with smaller jars (babyfood size), attached by screwing the lids to all four sides of the 4X4. The 4X4 is suspended so that it will spin on it's horizontal axis. I use this for smaller items that really don't merit a larger jar, like molly fasteners or wire nuts. Nothing too sophisticated, buts it works well, and it is cheap to build.

Patrick

I also have a lot of Moog chassis parts boxes to organize parts in the garage. Not the cartons, they are actual boxes with a flap like lid. Amazingly handy and the boxes are quite sturdy too.

I cant find mine been looking for a while. Think the wife took them.

Look in her panty drawer, that's where mine are.

In the garage I have a bunch of bins and a couple of boxes for the ones that come in boxes. I don't like searching so when I start to get low I buy a box of 100 next time I'm at the store. I bought a cotter pin assortment 25 years ago I still have not used up....

Zeke, do you mean these??? http://www.birdsallmarine.com/images/plano%20trays.jpg

Yes.

Hey RJ, good to hear from ya. What part of the planet/continent are you on these days?

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

I think I like Dave Silva's link for the larger fasteners. Short of finding a commercial shelving thing at an auction, I think I am either going to have to fabricate a custom setup like many here have, or go with multiple solutions like those yellow bins and the plastic drawers.

Despite all the stuff available to buy retail out there, it seems like many folks are not finding a good solution and either getting multiple different items or custom building their own... maybe a new product is needed here?

Hey RJ, good to hear from ya. What part of the planet/continent are you on these days?

What makes you think I am still on your planet?:D

... your planet?

Whoa! Whoa! Now don't go pinning ownership of this mess on me!
;)

Ron...screw a 4'x4' 3/4" plywood backdrop to a couple studs, and pick up these bins at any home center. They come in a variety of sizes, but they are the same footprint, so they stack up nicely. They have slots in the back so you can screw them to the ply. The have little "sleeves" on the front so you can interchange labels as you see fit... I hate not being able to find something...now I can see at a glance what I "have in stock"

Oh no ,not again !:D

http://marbella.to/humour/aug00/squirrel.jpg

Oh sorry, forgot the bolts... :D

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:z4H0dWIbWX0BkM:http://www.boltdepot.com/images/Chrome/chrome-hex-bolts.jpg

I bet he gets all the good looking squirellettes.

I also have a section of 4X4 hanging horizontally from the ceiling over the workbench, with smaller jars (babyfood size), attached by screwing the lids to all four sides of the 4X4. The 4X4 is suspended so that it will spin on it's horizontal axis.
PatrickI did this for many years and still like it. But the babyfood jars are breakable and the tops eventually got hard to open from rust. So I'm saving up small clear plastic jars with screw-on tops. It helps to keep the weight balanced as much as possible.

For now I use the little plastic bins. I sort into screws (uh oh... Andy will jump on that) and nuts. Screws and nuts are sorted by "top": round, oval, hex, flat, etc. If I fill a bin, I sort into small and large. Metric stuff I have to keep separate of course. Each set of bins has a "theme" like electric, plumbing, screws, bolts, etc. Most big bolts are purchased as needed unless they have original markings or shapes I want to keep.

I have a large pile on my workbench that spills over onto the floor

You and I have the same setup.