>I'd like to know how people here store their junk parts, as I'm looking
>for an efficient method myself. For the past several years, I've been
>keeping them in ziplock bags in a plastic box, which is falling apart, and
>also is useless for storing anything small.
Indeed, "junk parts" covers everything from tiny surface mount resistors
to entire 400-pound tape and disk drives here :-).
Small stuff goes in the Akro-Mills style of plastic drawers. I long ago
gave up using those dividers that they give you a few of - small parts
just slip underneath way to easy.
Most all of the hardware collection resides in the same plastic drawers.
I've got the photo stuff drawers here pretty well segregated from the random
electronic and hardware stuff drawers, but otherwise there isn't a lot of
order. Well, that's not entirely true: the IDC connectors are nicely
arrayed by type (header, socket, edge connector) and size (10-16-20-26-34-
40-50-60) in a nice matrix. And the 1/4" and 1/2" watt resistors are
nicely collected and ordered too.
Moderately larger stuff (including even 3.5" disk drives) will fit into the
large plastic drawers.
Small PC boards generally get put in anti-static bags and then into cardboard
"Stor-All" letter file boxes.
Larger PC boards go into larger boxes. For instance, Unibus hex-height
boards go into an 18" x 12" box.
The next step up from PC boards are, of course, rack-mount chassis. These
generally get piled on top of each other or on shelves until they're tested
and put into a real rack. There's a big pile, probably three hundred pounds
worth, of various rack rails here waiting to be matched up with boxes.
Standard rack-mount drives (you know, like RL02's, etc.) get stacked on top
of each other if they're spares, put in a rack if part of an actual system.
Working tape drives always go into racks. Tape drives in the process of being
repaired generally occupy their own chunk of floor space. There's usually
a delay from repair to mounting in rack until I can convince someone to
help me heave it into a rack and stand the rack back up.
Random stuff (monitors, keyboards) go on prefab shelves, along with
cardboard boxes filled with PC boards.
9-track tapes, 14" removable disk packs, etc., go where God intended them:
into Wright Line media shelves intended just for the application. Admittedly
there's a few hundred 9-tracks in a pile in the corner waiting either for me
to put them to use or go recycle them.
There's hundreds of boxes of 8" floppies lined up on shelves underneath
my workbenches.
TK50's fit very nicely into 9" x 12" cardboard boxes, which are then
stacked upon each other.
--
Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa_at_trailing-edge.com
Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/
7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917
Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927
Received on Tue Jul 06 1999 - 21:34:42 BST