Sorting and organising hardware.

[jaCK HobsonParticipant @jackhobson50760]

I dropped this lot on the floor and entropy took over.

I might try and organise again… but what is good method for sorting and how should i divide them up – a sensible compromise between perfection and effort?

Maybe I just split metric vs everything else as a starter?

I think washers in a separate bucket is sensible.

[Bantam BillParticipant @bantambill]

Do what I do and Chuck it all in a big box under the bench, where you then realise that it’s quicker to nip down the shops and buy that elusive bolt rather than search for it in the box. But you can’t get rid of it because your grandfather started the collection during the war.

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

Dont see anything wrong with that, just a bit mixed up that,s all.

I have several boxes like that, full of things that will come in “handy” some day, assuming I live long enough, somewhat doubtful at this late stage.

Should I throw the whole lot out ? No way, I began this collection when I was only a lad and we grew up together. We are now like twins, not sure which is the better looking.

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

But when you are at work and you go to the stores you just open the right drawer and there it is!. Why dont we do it at home????

[bernard towers]

On bernard towers Said:

But when you are at work and you go to the stores you just open the right drawer and there it is!. Why dont we do it at home????

Not enough drawers!

Russell

[jimmy bParticipant @jimmyb]

Jack, I feel your pain!

 

I’ve got quite a few tubs of assorted fasteners myself and this does happen.

I also know exactly what you mean about growing up with them. I recognise a fair few fasteners from my past, the domed 6mm cross head (JIS) from my SS50 moped often turns up. Like you I will never throw them away and start again!

 

Good luck!

 

Jimb

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

I sorted all my nuts and bolts out into type and sizes, store them in plastic seal bags and then plastic ice cream tubs. It took a few hours, but its done now and I reap the benefit with quickly finding that the bolt I want isn’t there!

Andrew.

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

I have 3 of those under my bench, one s that heavy I’ve broken the one end pulling it in and out.

H

[Russell Eberhardt]

On Russell Eberhardt Said:

On bernard towers Said:

But when you are at work and you go to the stores you just open the right drawer and there it is!. Why dont we do it at home????

Not enough drawers!

Russell

More a matter of hoarding festering crap like in the photo.

Best way to organise it is to place carefully in the bin.

 

Yes, I have followed this advice with lots of my own junk. No, I’ve never needed any of it since,

[bernard towers]

On bernard towers Said:

But when you are at work and you go to the stores you just open the right drawer and there it is!. Why dont we do it at home????

Even in my home workshop, when I open the right drawer there it is. Problem is all the wrong drawers I open first

 

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I mounted my ‘Warco’ sheet-metal former on a trolley with four of those umpteen-drawers cabinets nested between bench-top and a floor above the castors.

The sort of hard plastic drawers whose very brittle handles easily break off.  The boxes themselves designed to trip the contents up to lodge in the case shelf, preventing opening the drawer.

One day I may even finish labelling them by letter-number: A to D for the cases, 1 to n for the drawers in each. Accompanied by a spreadsheet of contents, so allowing the contents of individual drawers being changed over time.

Otherwise…..

I still spend more time looking for a tool than using it, or discovering the number of a screw of certain size in stock is normally (n-1) where n is the number needed. So buy a new pack of 50 from Toolstation then find the nth some days later in another box of accumulated curios. When looking for something else.

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

When I was young, every time my father needed a fastener he used to empty out several large baby milk tins full of screws, washers, nuts et al. on to newspapers on the garage floor and sift through them all until he found something that fitted the bill. It was rarely the ideal fastener for the job, he even more rarely found two the same, and it was far too time-consuming to be any kind of system that could be described as efficient.

I reacted against that and sort my fasteners differently, though I have several misc. tubs like Jack’s as well. The picture shows about a quarter of what I’ve got sorted into labelled boxes.

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

Split it into nuts, washers, bolts, set-screws etc. – I mean you’ll know what class of item you will be wanting when the time comes to look, right?

I keep ‘old’/obsolete fasteners & hardware in boxes, buckets etc, and tip ’em into a big tray to inspect the contents – when you find the thing you want just tip it all back in it’s container again – the trick is to have a big enough tray so that everything can be spread out easily..

 

[Taf_PembsParticipant @taf_pembs]

I’ve got a few ‘Boxes of Truth’ like Jack’s as I’m sure we all have, I regularly tell myself to get a grip and sort them.

Unfortunately I’ve never been any good at listening to myself – and it would mean buying a load of boxes.

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

One bin? Amateur 🙂

I’ve over 100 Really Usefull Boxes. All numbered and catalogued to some extent.
Small stuf is in Racco “sorter” type boxes.
I suggest you split by metric / Imperial / Old English (if any) and then further subdivided by <6mm / 0.25″> . I further subdivide into steel / CRES / Brass.

Robert.

[Taf_PembsParticipant @taf_pembs]

😲 Thud.

{Taf picks himself up off the floor} I feel quite inadequate now.

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Depending on what I’ve mixed up, I might sort by diameter using go-no go holes in a strip of metal – although eyesight is usually sufficient.

Go and no-go threads are useful.  Metric set on one side, with Imperial as at least two sets on the other.

A lot of my imperial stuff is UNx, so those need sorting from Whit.

Screws are sorted into wood and machine types, then sorted further as required.

Washers are never quite big enough – the metric/imperial clearance problem.  But often cheaper to buy 100, than just a few….

A long and tedious process but worth it if one has the time.

Drills are yet another issue.  Those are often sorted into approx sizes in standard, longer and short (stub).  The caliper then comes in handy for selection of a suitable item, which then likely gets deposited in the sharpening tub – usually while looking for a replacement for one of the boxed drill sets.

Buying (local) is easy for metric, but not for imperial, these days.  But there is a lot of tat sold both locally and on line.

I’m like Robert, but my really useful boxes are mostly the shallow variety, marked but not cataloged as well as his.  Mine are mostly on shelves, in steel cupboards, so while only 3 high on each shelf, it is usually the bottom one that needs to be extracted.

One-offs is sometimes a bit of a problem, but compounded if a set of several are required.

I fully expect/accept my ‘collections’ will be bought (like a lot of mine were) as a ‘job lot’ at an auction when I’m gone – or thrown in a skip.

[jaCK HobsonParticipant @jackhobson50760]

I’m thinking whatever I do, it has to be easy to maintain. So ideally, when I get ‘new’ additions to the collection, I should be able to identify where to put it without much measurement.

Mind you, I’m unlikely to collect many more imperial fixings… so maybe now IS the time to sort those all out in detail?

What I seem to have discovered is that, even with a big, diverse bin of bolts, I still don’t have the right size… I was failing to find a bolt to match my airbrush when it all went on the floor.

@Robert… A whole box of video cameras! And three old, cheap, computer cases… I suspect I won’t be needing stuff like that ever again. I know if I got that organised then the thing I need would always be in the box at the bottom-back.

[jaCK HobsonParticipant @jackhobson50760]

Sorting trays are a ‘thing’. This one a bit small for my mess

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I’d need somewhere to keep the sorting tray – and to remember where it is…. or might be.

With me it’s materials and tools, rather than fasteners, that are “stored” randomly.

[Peter Cook 6Participant @petercook6]

For storage of small items like these I find the plastic boxes supplied by my local takeaway work well – once emptied of their original content and washed. I use the takeaway often enough to have a lifetimes supply of the boxes.

[jaCK HobsonParticipant @jackhobson50760]

Procrastinating… I designed a stackable sorting tray … but probably more useful for jigsaws.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Check out your local churches for ones that burn candles by statues and ‘votive’ candles. Not just Catholics either. Have a word with the staff. The 7 day candles are in plastic tubes about 7 in high and 2.5 in dia (we use 4 per week) Then there are 24hr candles 2 1/2 high by 2in dia plastic tubes (we use 4 per day! @ £1 each))  and the lids for the 7 day candles fit these too. The votive candles can be little 1 x 1 dia but have a silly built in stand (we are going through 50 per week @ 75p each but thank eco-goodness are switching back to little aluminium cased ones).

[Grizzly bearParticipant @grizzlybear]

Well that was an interesting and humorous read.

Somewhat spoilt by Robert. I do believe he is a professional engineer. (Just jealous).

I’m a Dump it in a tray Walla.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Given the original Tray of Entropy, my first thought would be to rescue the tools visible among it!

A magnet will help sift mild-steel from stainless and brass.

I am sure that lot’s innocent but when someone once brought one of those foot-cube biscuit-tins filled with a similar mixture to our club, thinking it might be useful, we found a dozen or so live revolver rounds among the mass of basically scrap! Luckily one member was a Police Inspector able to remove them for proper, discreet disposal.

Other donations included soluble cutting fluid (dissolved… and used), and hacksaw blades ex-school workshop so with three central inches worn out between still-sharp portions of blade.

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