First Order Retrieve-ability

Several years ago I built this 4-sided roll-around small parts organizer/storage unit. See post 251 at:
www.hobby-machinist.com

Quarantine Projects!

Backspacing a bit to storage ideas .. Here's what I put together for my shop in mid 2018 (and previously posted in detail here). 4-sided, on casters, bottom layer is Ikea drawers, middle and top are drawer units from Lowes, plus some bin drawers I found at Habitat for Humanity. This gives me...
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When considering first order retrieve-ability, drawers always trump flat organizers like fishing tackle organizers. The drawers take up more space but in this particular case they used wall space. Now I have all my set screws in the shop. I left the 4-40 through 12-24 set screws in a flat organizer for now. 20230324_184110.jpg

I had to walk out to the garage work bench to get a couple set screws just today. Trip just got a lot shorter....

Like when you ask for ketchup in the McD's drive through and they have to walk 30 ft to get some. Lol!
 
I finally received my louvre panels. This small space represents almost all my fasteners except my bolts and some larger nuts and washers. I am unbelievably happy with it.

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Cap screws, button head cap screws, flat head cap screws, misc low head cap screws in grade 8 or grade 10.9 and 12.9. Nuts, lock nuts, washers.
 
Flyinfool said:
Let me know if you find a cure.
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I put everything away at the end of the day, except what is actually is use at a machine. Nothing I hate more than spending time looking for a tool. Tools for use on each machine are kept in holders at that machine.

I share space in a production wood shop, DUST! Dust and oil make a coating on everything they get together on. So I keep most things in drawers or a doored storage cabinet.

Problem with this system is it runs out of space in the defined drawer or shelf when additional stuff is added. I have 47 drawers in roll-around tool cabinets.

I have a problem with saving all sorts of bits & pieces of metal that I might use some day. No cure in sight.
 
Batmanacw said:
I've never heard it said that way until I saw it on an Adam Savage video today.
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He talks about this at length in his book as well. I find his arguments convincing yet I largely keep tools in drawers and organizer cases. I am obsessive about having everything on casters to allowy work space to be reorganized.

The reason I prefer drawers and cases is that I am a hobbyist and parent. It is fairly common that my shop space to be abandoned for multiple months is because of a lack of time. I've found that leaving tooling out results in it getting covered in dust/chips/cob webs, or burried under random bits of projects that need to be stored, or that things end up hitting the floor.

As an example, I have a toolchest next to my drill press the about half a dozen drill indexes in it that I am most likely to use. I have another toolchest with drill indexes in it that I typically use with drill drivers -- the same chest that drill drivers live in. I also have a storage bin with extra bulk packs and specialty drills (small carbide) that lives in a cookie sheet rack. For me, the extra time it takes fish a drill index out of a drawer more than offsets the time I used to waste looking through 3 or more layers of crap that seems to settle on every horizontal surface I have.
 
dogma said:
He talks about this at length in his book as well. I find his arguments convincing yet I largely keep tools in drawers and organizer cases. I am obsessive about having everything on casters to allowy work space to be reorganized.

The reason I prefer drawers and cases is that I am a hobbyist and parent. It is fairly common that my shop space to be abandoned for multiple months is because of a lack of time. I've found that leaving tooling out results in it getting covered in dust/chips/cob webs, or burried under random bits of projects that need to be stored, or that things end up hitting the floor.

As an example, I have a toolchest next to my drill press the about half a dozen drill indexes in it that I am most likely to use. I have another toolchest with drill indexes in it that I typically use with drill drivers -- the same chest that drill drivers live in. I also have a storage bin with extra bulk packs and specialty drills (small carbide) that lives in a cookie sheet rack. For me, the extra time it takes fish a drill index out of a drawer more than offsets the time I used to waste looking through 3 or more layers of crap that seems to settle on every horizontal surface I have.
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A marked drawer with a marked location for a tool is most definitely immediately accessible. Emphatically so. A flat pack organizer stacked with other organizers not so much.
 
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