Shop organization

Me thinks I’m going to break out our label maker.


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Yeah! We probably all end up with one of those (Sharpie).
"Break out label maker"? Sounds like it has not had cause to be making labels for some time!

The vertical support idea is good. The shelves do get support from pins of screws from the back, so it is just the front portion that starts to droop. We store steel stuff in these. The weight mounts up to surprising levels.
 
Got to jump in here just for fun. I have a few bins like that, sorta, kinda . . . And a few 1/2 watt resistor cabinets, and a few small parts cabinets, and a few homemade containers, and a few 3 lb coffee cans, and . . . well, you get the idea. Don't worry too much about empty bins, they will fill to overflowing soon enough.

Way back years ago,(1975) when I first moved in here, I stashed anything I found anywhere I could. Boxes abounded leaving a "walkway' through every room. So after 20 years or so, I bought the house next door (after a fire) to stash my "stuff". Remember George Carlin's skit on a house, just a box with a roof on it to keep your stuff secure? Well, after a few years, the "little" house was overflowing. So I built a barn to replace a garage that a tree fell on. Pretty soon, even that was overflowing. And there's the tractor shed with all the lawnmowers and such that won't fit into the barn.

And the hardest part that I haven't come to terms with yet is that the residence is still full of boxes. Souvineers from my wandering around the world, and books. Very little greasy or nasty stuff, but lots (& lots) of books. Oh, I almost forgot the trailer and the stuff in it. More books and old LPs that I can't replace with CDs cause there's no market for 'em. It ain't hoarding, there's no old news papers or empty soup cans. It's all stuff I may need one day and isn't sold any more. Wife's gonna have a hell of a garage sale one day after I'm gone.

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I managed to track down a CDN supplier for the louvered panel. I am definitely finding that stacking the bins really limits visibility into the bin and is a hassle when the bin I want is on the bottom.
 
I managed to track down a CDN supplier for the louvered panel. I am definitely finding that stacking the bins really limits visibility into the bin and is a hassle when the bin I want is on the bottom.

Yes, without a good way to access and organize those bins they're not much better than a bucket. You will like the louvered panel, I promise....

John
 
On my bolt bin I made labels with the Brother P Touch system. It also allows you to attach a picture to the label.
now I'm sure everyone knows how to read but adding a picture of the item in the bin whether it be a bolt, cotter pin, snap ring etc., actually speeds up the process of looking for a particular item. Try it you'd be amazed. I think the brain can process a graphic faster that the written word at least mine can.
 
Something I feel is equally important to organized storage is an inventory listing of what there is and more importantly WHERE it is. I may buy a box of 100 whatzits and only 75 will fit into the bin space - so I put the rest someplace "where I will remember where it is when the bin is empty".

So some time later I use the last of an item in a drawer or bin and buy some more, then (at least an hour after making the purchase) rustling around in a dark place find another box/bag/carton of whatever it was I just purchased. Of course I don't remember stashing the overstock away - or I do remember the stashing but not the location.

Starting with a set of virgin empty bins is the ideal time to also start an inventory - maybe just a simple spread sheet or notepad giving part description and all locations where they ended up. I wish I had done that as my parts and hardware supply has blossomed into an almost untameable menagerie.

With the bin boxes you have you can organize the layout and put similar stuff together instead of a little here, a little there.

Good luck

Stu
 
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