Ideas for storing fasteners?

[/pine]

I keep a lot of odd nuts, bolts, screws etc... in horizontal storage boxes (commonly sold as tackle boxes)...
they are easy to configure different size compartments...I have a couple dedicated to hydraulic fittings etc...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Plano-Fishing-ProLatch-Horizontal-Stowaway-Tackle-Box/41766940

 

[Diggin It]

I'm finding that if I need more than a few of a fastener Ebay is the place to buy in bulk for the best prices.

I was looking for something kind of odd, but in small quantities. I probably could have driven to town and picked them up, but just didn't feel the need. Found a seller with something similar, but not quite right. Sent them a message about what I wanted. They had it, created a listing for it and I had the items in hand in about 3-4 days.

 

[bcp]

It usually takes me so long to find a specific fastener I know I have, that they should be renamed "sloweners.

Bruce

 

[Big Barn]

I For a long time I hoarded odds and ends and spent endless time trying to sort it out and then sort through it. Now I just throw away accumulated odds and ends at the end of a job, get it out of the way, and then you don't waste time looking for something that you may not even have.

Or come across them a week later while looking for something else.

 

[Thomas]

Check out auctions garages going out of business most those bins are heavy duty,may need paint touch up tho.

 

[Diggin It]

Or come across them a week later while looking for something else.

Easiest way for me to find something is to stop looking for it.

 

[jaxs]

Easiest way for me to find something is to stop looking for it.

When a friend of mine drop's something, he often throw's another one down to help locate the one he lost.:confused3:

 

[newbury]

When a friend of mine drop's something, he often throw's another one down to help locate the one he lost.:confused3:

Think that was in Mark Twain's writings.

It does often help to give you a pattern to recognize.

 

[GLyford]

Friend's Dad would keep stuff in the original retail package as long as possible, and had a whole wall of pegboard in the shop office covered with simple pegs. Hang package on pegs, easy to see, group and sort.

Larger stuff he had stacks of coffee cans held in soda flats made for (6) 2-liter bottles. Not very searchable at a glance, but you could still sort through the stacks to look in all the cans without much hassle.

My Dad had a 12' studwall with open bays, fitted with notched 1x6 shelves. it was covered in cut off cardboard cartons (gallon, and half-) and later, cut off clear juice bottles. All his most popular sizes of nails and wood screws were at chest height in the place closest to the tablesaw (defacto assembly table) that was also directly under the light. Further you got from the "sweet spot" the more esoteric the fastener was. That was mostly wood fasteners and cabinet hardware. Bolts, caps screws, etc. tended to be on the other side of the basement in more cutoff cartons that filled about a 3x6' section of workbench. Most popular bits closest to front and center, oddballs further out and harder to reach. Not really a great system, susceptible to dust and could be hard to search, but he usually had something that would work.

I try to keep nails and wood screws in the boxes, and have them description facing out in a shallow bookshelf that once held CDs. Current grumble is I need another one, it's not big enough. I have stackable plastic bins and such here and there, but it's mostly a mess. A couple of clear "nut" jars full of assorted small screws, not a great system, spend to much time digging. What I have learned is I often buy fasteners for a project, then use them at the project from the shopping bag. Once the project is done, ditch the bag--you can't see in them at a glance.

I am in the middle of trying to rearrange my garage "metal" shop, so am avidly watching for more ideas.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

However this may be a saving grace because I find clear rectangular nut jars

to be more useful, ad with the label off I can easily see contents and quantity.

For larger items in the 5 gallon bucket size class I'm trying to transition to

tidy cat buckets, they are rectangular also. Not good for mixing stuff though.

I thought the litter buckets were the best part about having cats.

What gets me is that if you try to buy empty containers they're often more expensive than buying containers filled with something. And not as useful.