Starting to put together a bolt bin

[FarmerSid]

Hey all! I scored a cabinet like the one pictured. I'm going to turn it into a bolt bin. I'm going to start filling it but need to know how to fill it according to bolt sizes. Each drawer has movable dividers. Anybody have a label template I could print off and attach to the draw fronts?

 

[Stephenw]

I'd just use a Brother label maker.

 

[larry_g]

Good score. For labels get some avery labels of your liking and us one of their programs for printing labels. If you have MS Word it already has some of the forms in the program. If your also an excel user then you can use a merge file and do the the labels automatically if you have the size data in an excel file. I've done this in the past at work but no longer have the files or I would send them to you.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[toolman1967]

I have a lot of screws and bolts. I did visually separate the nuts, bolts and washers, then I got a few small plastic cans and drilled different size holes in them. just filled the one up with the largest holes and separated them out, then on to the next smaller size and so on. they are not separated by length or thread size like at the hardware store, but it makes it much easier to get close to the right size and then just rummage through to find the right one for the job. Worked for the washers and nuts also. I know guys who separate them to exact size but I just have too many to spend the time on it.

 

[YellowLakeWelding]

I have a lot of screws and bolts. I did visually separate the nuts, bolts and washers, then I got a few small plastic cans and drilled different size holes in them. just filled the one up with the largest holes and separated them out, then on to the next smaller size and so on. they are not separated by length or thread size like at the hardware store, but it makes it much easier to get close to the right size and then just rummage through to find the right one for the job. Worked for the washers and nuts also. I know guys who separate them to exact size but I just have too many to spend the time on it.

I also seperated bolts by size not length and also thread, it's still fairly easy to find what I need that way. I do however seperate nuts by thread and size, washers by size and lock washers by size so that finding those would be extremely easy. If you can go with a bulk supplier like fastenal well...that's just gravy. I'd love to do that someday so more power to you and then you'd deffinitly want to seperate everything precisely so that ordering for restocking is easier.

 

[ptschram]

My bolt bin is probably more organized than most.

I put the most commonly used sizes at eye level and went from there in order of usage.

Nuts are all on the far left, followed by flat washers, then lock washers, then bolts in varying sizes, increasing as you go to the right.

I use a P-touch printer for labels.

 

[Mr Ratchet]

I've got one just like it but half the height. They work great for bolts, nuts, washers, etc.. I don't have mine labled though.

 

[Keith_MN]

I do not intentionally stock hardware as I live too close to stores that will do that for me. But I have bins to keep my excess stuff in. I separate all bolts, nuts and washers into three sizes: Less than 1/4 inch, 1/4 inch, and greater than 1/4 inch. This works well for me as it is easy to sort into the bins. The quarter inch bin is smaller than the other two and is a good seperator for me. It seems like quarter inch is a size that works well for a lot of things around the house.

I have other bins for srews. I seperate those into: hex head, flat head, and round head.

 

[KCarGuy]

Lables are nice, I use a Brother Label Maker also, But a Photo or Drawing of the Hardware inside seems to make everything easier still.
I did that for work, in our "Hardware Cage". I went through every Drawer and Did a simple Black and White Illustration of each part and Printed up a Description.
Some guys Glue or Epoxy a sample part on the outside of the drawer.
( I like the Drawing myself)
My body has a photo (downloaded from his Digital Camera) on Heavy paper and slipped into the lable portion on each pull out drawer front.
If its a "Lag Bolt" Drawer, and its broke down into three sizes, it has the Lag Bolt photo in Small, Medium and Large size. So on and So on.
Fast and Simple.

 

[KCarGuy]

Sorry....My "Buddy" not my "Body"!

 

[jjjrmx5]

I've got close to 20 of these or something close to it.
8 x 11 x 3" deep

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0029LXYJM/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Double sided and Made in Italy. Pretty well made.
Label maker label for each square.
Still got lots of fasteners in boxes that are bagged per size, but I'm getting there.

 

[FarmerSid]

Thanks people! I guess what I'm asking is if I had a fastener supply company come in and set up a bin with assorted sizes, what sizes would they supply? I know I could ask for specific sizes but what if I told them to put together a bin with assorted sizes and such, what would they supply me with?

 

[Daddy_Rabbit]

contact your local Fastenal

 

[ptschram]

Thanks people! I guess what I'm asking is if I had a fastener supply company come in and set up a bin with assorted sizes, what sizes would they supply? I know I could ask for specific sizes but what if I told them to put together a bin with assorted sizes and such, what would they supply me with?

Most industrial suppliers have various assortments you can pick from. Mike Blanc at Kimball-Midwest can take good care of you. 800-214-9440 ext 2006.Another good one (probably even better) is Gramm Daniel at Spangle Fastener, 260-484-0496. Tell them I sent you.

Trust me, buying in even mini-bulk lots will save you more than you ever expected. I pay as much for 100 of many parts than what three or four would cost at the hardware store.

 

[jjjrmx5]

Thanks people! I guess what I'm asking is if I had a fastener supply company come in and set up a bin with assorted sizes, what sizes would they supply? I know I could ask for specific sizes but what if I told them to put together a bin with assorted sizes and such, what would they supply me with?

I keep on hand and have access to mainly metric fasteners, so I keep the following sizes handy:
M5 x 0.8
M6 x 1.00
M8 x 1.25
M10 x 1.50
M12 x 1.75

Bolts and screws come in 5mm length increments, so like a 15, 30, 45 and 60 length in each should get you going.

Most over M14 is mainly for lug bolts or frame bolts
The fine threads you can fill in, but really M6 to M10's are used by me the most.

For std. I keep 1/4-20's and various 3/8, 1/2 and 5/8 hardware around but not a lot. Bolts and screws in 6, 8 and 10's in 24 and 32 for around the house.

Unless you do repetitive reapirs or buy batch of a big selection of hdware, everything tends to be one-sies and two-sies for me.

 

[Zebu Fellenz]

Thanks people! I guess what I'm asking is if I had a fastener supply company come in and set up a bin with assorted sizes, what sizes would they supply? I know I could ask for specific sizes but what if I told them to put together a bin with assorted sizes and such, what would they supply me with?

I don't think there is one answer to this question as a bolt bins aren't "one size fits all".

For example in our shop we keep well stocked bins of SAE fasteners from 1/4" to 1" NC (hex bolts in various lengths, grade 3, 5, and 8, flat washers, lock washers, nuts, nylock nuts, threaded rods, etc...)

We also have a much smaller selection of metric fasteners from M10-M16

These are the fasteners we most commonly use in our work (older farm machinery). If we had an automotive shop we'd definitely have a different selection.

The best way to setup a bolt bin is to figure out what you're always using, get setup with those fasteners and then add to the selection if you find things missing.

Erik

 

[charley1]

I have a bolt bin and the sizes start 1/4 5/16 3/8 1/2 bolts washers ,screws
then across for longer sizes 1" 1/12' and 2

 

[Gregg33]

What you stock depends on what you are working on. Probably 90% of what I use is for my stock car. So I need only SAE and in the larger sizes I need longer lengths (suspensions bolts get bent on a regular basis). I also use a fair bit of 7/16 and Allen head bolts which are scarce in some mass retailers. I have little need for Metric fasteners. Mechanics would need mostly Metric. Truck and equipment guys would need larger sizes. Contruction would need things like lag bolts and carriage bolts. Basically figure out what you work on typically and go from there. Most fastener suppliers (correct me if I'm wrong) have various kits/ package deals to suit different uses.

My local fastener store (Boltworks) is very helpful, especially to racers and I can buy fasteners individually at a reasonable price. Most times I go in there a hand full of change (in Canada we have $1 and $2 coins) takes care of what I need so I don't really stock that much. However if I feel I'll have a use for them down the road I'll get more than I need to have extras. I keep my stock in the stackable plastic bins, divided up by sizes of washers, nuts and bolts.

 

[jjjrmx5]

Most times I go in there a hand full of change (in Canada we have $1 and $2 coins) takes care of what I need so I don't really stock that much.

Loonies and toonies FTW!!!!!!!!

It made me LOL in a good way.

 

[M G McCoy]

I found this template for labeling nuts, bolts and washers. It looks neat and professional. The page provided only covers 1/4, 5/16, and 3/8, but with a little editing you can make pages for any size from this.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/260166/addtoit/2 x 1 inch bolt labels 1_4 - 3_8 with borders.doc

 

[LumpyMusic]

...I guess what I'm asking is if I had a fastener supply company come in and set up a bin with assorted sizes, what sizes would they supply?...

That seems like a pretty weird way to set up YOUR fastener bins. Figure out what sizes YOU need for YOUR projects. Stock those.

Any time I need 1 or 2 bolts, I buy 100. Then next time I'm building something, I've got bolts. I mainly use three sizes of bolts, maybe three lengths each. Nuts for the same I've got black, galvanized, yellow galv, nylock etc. Washers similar, flat, extra thick, star, fender etc.


Sgt Lumpy

 

[reader2580]

I do not intentionally stock hardware as I live too close to stores that will do that for me. But I have bins to keep my excess

Unless you live next door to a hardware store how much is your time worth for every trip? At my old house I figured it cost me at least 20 minutes for every trip to the hardware store. Sometimes more if I had to change into clean clothes to keep the car clean. There were times when working on my converted bus I was making two trips to the hardware store every evening.

I finally ended up buying some bins and a selection of the most common sizes of bolts and nuts. I spent around $300 total. I figure I eliminated over half of my trips to the hardware store. It is even more important at my new place where the hardware store is a 10 to 12 mile round trip plus typically waiting forever to cross the highway.

 

[LumpyMusic]

Unless you live next door to a hardware store how much is your time worth for every trip?...

Plus just the COST of "onesies" at the hardware store. At my local Ace, I can buy about 4 bolts. At my local CopperState Bolt and Nut I can buy 100 bolts. Either is about the same cost.


Sgt Lumpy

 

[Dave455]

O.K. - for nuts and bolts / set screws it's best to divide 'em up by diameter first! For the small sizes, you will get all the different lengths in one drawer, so do that! As the sizes get bigger, you will need seperate drawers for bolts and nuts/washers, and for the really big sizes you will need a couple of drawers for the bolts!

I have one cabinet for regular nuts and bolts, another for cap screws / grub screws and machine screws and a third for woodscrews. Each cabinet has colour coded labels - blue for British Standard, green for Unified and red for Metric! If I wasn't sat on my backside in a foreign hotel this week I'd attach pics!

Start by acquiring a few boxes of the sizes you are likely to use most - firms such as MSC are a good place to start if you have them in Canada, especially their specials flyer! If the opportunity comes up to acquire surplus fasteners in a job lot then grab it, provided the price seems reasonable!

For woodscrews, I sort by length first, and the gauge!

Enjoy....

 

[humber2]

Only need 2 or 3 bins as bolts only come in 3 sizes..........


Too big, too small and the size you need but haven't got.

 

[John in OH]

Only need 2 or 3 bins as bolts only come in 3 sizes..........


Too big, too small and the size you need but haven't got.

Too funny, too true!!!!!

 

[humber2]

The real payback for a well sorted bolt bin is when you can quickly see that size you need definitely isn't there to be found.