Screw Organization

[moparfreak]

Moparfreak, you are my hero, and you win the internet today. I have owned two of those cabinets for over ten years. I wish I knew how many dollar store containers I bought over those years in search of the perfect fit. I had resolved to build wooden compartmentalized boxes to sort everything last year, and actually built a few. Who knew the answer was right under my nose every time I walked into Lowe's. I went by there after work today, and bought 6 for $1.58, and they fit!! I'll buy the 100 next payday. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Glad to see it works out for you too. It was definitely an a-ha moment. Those card cabinets seem to be pretty common cause I see around here on GJ that a lot of folks have collected them over the years. They are bulletproof and have slides that can handle actually filling up the drawers to the brim.

I can see you're heading down that rabbit hole of sorting screws and organizing them for months on end....when you come out the other side, you can join us in our Screw Organizers Anonymous meetings to talk about our problems...

 

[D rock]

I thought it was Screw Organization...Seriously

I need to get much better...my shop looks like a Tornado hit it with all my stuff in piles. It takes me longer to locate stuff than fix it...I've got a loooong way to go but I'm working on it.

 

[rsizem]

I use Excel.
To catalog screws: I capture all of the functional elements (drive, head style/color, brand, under head configuration, mat'l, finish, body color, thread type, tip, grade/class, penetration into mat'l, OAL, length of thrds, hd dia, major thread dia, minor thread dia.

To catalog bolts/nuts/washers/o-rings: I use a similar breakdown

Each type of fastener is stored in its own clear plastic box and numbered sequentially (e.g.: SCREWS 1, SCREWS 2, etc). This corresponds to each row in the Excel file.

To find a specific item, I search by the parameters I need or I visually scan the boxes.

I store everything in a GEMTRAC system which provides high density and easy visual searching.

 

[cmandp]

http://www.schallercorporation.com/drawer-builder/

Plug in your tool drawer dimensions and start drooling over endless configurations... Insert your last paycheck here

You shouldn't have shown me that! Now I will be playing around with different combinations

 

[Cobradriver]

Glad to see it works out for you too. It was definitely an a-ha moment. Those card cabinets seem to be pretty common cause I see around here on GJ that a lot of folks have collected them over the years. They are bulletproof and have slides that can handle actually filling up the drawers to the brim.

I can see you're heading down that rabbit hole of sorting screws and organizing them for months on end....when you come out the other side, you can join us in our Screw Organizers Anonymous meetings to talk about our problems...

Holy **** !!!!! Thanks guys !!!! I'd have never thought of using the boxes that way. I'm stopping at the HD after work today and grabbing a few to work out sizing and configuration....

 

[Tinkerman66]

I used to do this but never seemed to have what I needed anyway so now I just buy what I need when I need it. Don't need all the extra **** in my garage.

 

[Samh]

Use Akro bins and separate based on diameter and thread pitch/thread count. Sometimes will also separate by hex vs allen, etc. One thing I do though, is a vertical stack/column is always the same diameter so if I need a 5/8 lock washer, a 5/8 bolt, and 5/8 nut, they are all in the same column.

 

[shortykorte]

By head type, threadpitch, diameter then length. Right now just have SAE hex and carriage bolts sorted. Lesser used or smaller quantity will be be just head type and diameter. I’m using the Schaller bins in a Vidmar.

 

[kozmo]

I love these ideas. Those card catalogs...what do you typically pay for them? I just found some locally, they're asking $200 for 3 of them....they're larger than the ones I see here. Taller.

 

[66HertzClone]

I used the Schaller bins for putting the hardware I had in to my Lista cabinets. I have three drawers like this with nuts and bolts, for all the other hardware I used the plastic trays of varying sizes. I'm very tempted to convert those to the black and yellow trays from Harbor Freight and making a wheeled cabinet to hold them as others here have done.

 

[RDeMeyer]

I have them organize by type, brass, stainless steel, etc., then by self tapping, sheet metal, etc.. then by size.

Pictures are to show how they are organized.

Are those Schaller bins? That is what I am building up right now for all my small parts and pieces.

 

[danfromsyr]

Xs2 here, going to check mine out tonight

Those are awesome! Never thought of that! Going to look today or tomorrow to see if I can get these at my local hardware store.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

"Screw organization" is what I say. I try to be organized, but don't end up that way.

Tommy

 

[casmurbax]

Are those Schaller bins? That is what I am building up right now for all my small parts and pieces.

sorry RDeMeyer I didn't see this

Yes they are and they fit perfect.

 

[Rickster55]

How do you folks organize your screws.

wow! And not one person said blondes on Saturday, redheads on Sunday, etc.

 

[mattgood65]

How do you folks organize your screws.



wow! And not one person said blondes on Saturday, redheads on Sunday, etc.

I was gonna say hair color, lol


Sent from my iPad using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[greg13]

Organized? Don't be ridiculous, of course I am! They are out in the garage, somewhere.

 

[MWMWMW]

I know this thread has been a little quiet lately, but I’ll share. This is an idea directly from poster soj and his thread here (https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=289281). This is just my simplified version of his idea. Anyways, step one is complete. Now the organizer is built I need to sort all of the fasteners laying about the shop!

We made this from scrap wood and left behind bed frames (I’ve got some apartments). People leave these angle iron bed frames behind all the time. Anytime I go looking I find some. One of the old pairs had a great set of wheels on it so we used those on this too.

 

[Wanna Ride]

Started building a new, mobile hardware bin... a couple years ago. Now that I have some more free time at home this month, maybe it’s a good time to re-fire up this project. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

I’m totally amazed at all you guys organization and the incredible amount of stock some have.
I’ve seen less stock at some hardware stores.
My organization is a few plastic bins with either drawers or lids. Mine are displaced either down stairs, garage, lake shed or my new build in the back yard.
I sometimes buy new product then find that I already had a cache of them in one of my other hidey holes. Good grief I even have containers of particular fasteners in the truck in a blue rubber made bin.

 

[MWMWMW]

As I’m sorting now I plan to put everything I have around the shop into this cabinet. I feel like I’ll probably find way more than I realize.

Going forward I plan to buy larger quantities online to slowly build up what I actually use. I can’t justify spending hundred of dollars or a grand for an assortment of screws. I’d probably never use the vast majority of them.

Anyways, everyone has different needs, desires, and space. Do what works best for you and your situation. Happy sorting!

 

[DJL50]

I went a little overboard, but no regrets. I use a couple IBM card cabinets which perfectly fit the cheap-o blue plastic electric boxes w/ the ears cut off. I can't even count at this point how many I have but it does the job great and is very adaptable / expandable.

Eventually I added other types of storage, plano boxes, akro-bins, little fastener cabinets with the pull-out drawers, so now I have an area for all types of hardware, big or small, located in one place in the shop.

What a great idea. Thanks

 

[HotrodHR]

I wish I would have discovered using outlet boxes for storage bins before I gave away one card file cabinet and sold another...

 

[santagary]

wow, you're the champion obd

 

[Wanna Ride]

Going forward I plan to buy larger quantities online to slowly build up what I actually use. I can’t justify spending hundred of dollars or a grand for an assortment of screws. I’d probably never use the vast majority of them.

I've found that when I go to Farm & Fleet or Rural King, I just grab a pound or two of loose hardware. They both sell it by the pound; bolts, screws, washers, nuts, etc. Makes it easy on the wallet and quickly adds up to a pretty good, on-hand supply. Doesn't take much time to find you have a lot of hardware on hand, and that minimizes downtime when you're working on a project and making good progress.

 

[Dumber than lumber]

I agree with the OP’s statement.
Screw organization!! I have too much to spend time on it.

 

[Lucky13driver]

I went a little overboard, but no regrets. I use a couple IBM card cabinets which perfectly fit the cheap-o blue plastic electric boxes w/ the ears cut off. I can't even count at this point how many I have but it does the job great and is very adaptable / expandable.

Eventually I added other types of storage, plano boxes, akro-bins, little fastener cabinets with the pull-out drawers, so now I have an area for all types of hardware, big or small, located in one place in the shop.

I've been organizing my garage and found it to be a great way to relax. I'm trying to figure out my small parts and fasteners organization. The use of electrical boxes has to be one of the most efficient and cost effective ways to go. So you inspired me. I went to the big box store and purchased 100 of them for $25. I'll post some pictures when I get it figured out.

 

[Bessy]

Adam Savage definitely nailed it with screw organization in his new hardware set up. Talk about 10lbs of sh*t in a five lb sack. If you skip closer to the end you'll see how he organized the fasteners by size and type. It satisfies my OCD, but I think I'm a few decades away from needing that level of hardware storage capacity.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

 

[97tj-neil]

This is impressive. Guy 3d printed his boxes in various sizes. Hundreds of them.

 

[Lucky13driver]

We are in a shelter in place order for my city due to Covid-19. So today was the day to cut down the electrical boxes. I made 100 4 didn't survive the saw however, I think it turned out pretty good. This miter saw I use almost exclusively for PVC. the boxes are I,do believe ABS because the blade is pretty much shot.

 

[Lucky13driver]

Today I bought some 2-3-and4 gang boxes. This time I used my bank saw and a belt sander. It took about 15 minutes then the rest of the day was spent sorting all the nuts bolts screws, and other small parts and pieces. Monotonous to say the least.

 

[coljar]

[/url][/IMG]

Micofilm cabinets and plastic bin trays bought at Rural King.

 

[danfromsyr]

bumping this up as I'm (once again) reorganizing my garage bits&bobs

 

[fourjeepin]

I love Mopars approach. If I didn’t have a cabinet, I would probably go with the Adam Savage type build. Mine are one of the best scores I’ve gotten for my shop. I paid $50 for each vertical section of the bins from a Home Depot that was relocating. I was very happy with the deal until the guy said it came with all of the hardware in the bins too... it took two trips with my 18 ft car hauler and WEEKS of sorting and ripped open so many little hardware bags my fingers were raw but I now have multiple lifetimes of most bits and bobs. I sold many of the bins and large boxes of bolts, covering my initial investment plus. I did “have” to buy many lengths of screws and sizes of grade 5 bolts, but i only need to buy hardware for big projects.