I need small compact ways to orginaze PARTS

I need ideas how to sort parts in easy to use storage devices that don't increase volume 50 to 100 times larger.

First picture is assortment pack it is actually not hard to find the resistor I need 1 to 10 minutes. It would be better if they were all orginized in order so all I have to do is look at the values on front of the storage area then open & get the resistor I need. Problem is 2 to 10 of each resistor per storage spot takes up a ton of extra space, 2 resistors in a storage drawer takes up 500 times more space in the work shop. I have tried sorting these before it takes up too much space and several hours later it looks like I am it will take a whole week to finish this 1 pile of parts. Lately I searched the pile and been sorting resistors into empth pill bottles these take up a lot of space too. I tried paper envelopes they are pain in the butt to deal with. Resistors these days are so cheep plus accurate to 1% compared to 10% for those resistors in the pile. Maybe I should throw the resistor pile in the trash and buy new resistors on tape. I can keep new resistors in a 4"x4"x6" fill box wow this works perfect, small & easy to use.

Electrolytic capacitors sorted by physical size also puts them in order by value most are 1uf to 100 uf for the 1/4" diameter size. There is still a lot of different values not sure these are worth sorting I can usually find the cap I want in 10 seconds stored is glass mason jars.

Power mosfets, I don't have many, not sure 20 parts are worth sorting. At the moment they are all in the same container with a data sheet paper that tells what each mosfet is.

Not many bridge rectifiers either they are all 120 vac from TV and they all work very well with heat sinks. Small compact better than what i have been buying.

Few months ago I went threw the transistor pile and look up some values to see what they are if its not something useful I searched the pile for all transistors with the same number an threw them in the trash. I did the same thing with a few other parts trying to reduce my quantity.

Sorting parts takes more time than searching for the parts i need, I'm sure it is worth it. Yesterday I needed a 47K resistor after searching 5 minutes I ordered some 47K resistors they will be here in a week. My parts are not taking up much space the way they are it is just starting to get frustrating looking for the parts I need.

The thru-hole resister one, I think I nailed a while ago. I get these little tine zip lock bags about the size of a credit card. Now, supposedly one drawer is labeled 1K to 5K and I have a bunch more of 1K resistors. Those would get bagged separately. Now the bags are placed in a drawer based cabinet.
I just have to buy 1000 of the bags at about $80.00 USD.

For prototyping / service parts I use boxes with removable compartment "bins" - these, though mine have a different stick-on brand label.

The actual box is made by "ZAG" and mine came came from a DIY shop (Focus) many years ago; the identical boxes are sold with various brand name labels. I have something like 8 - 10 of them

I swapped the various size compartments around between cases, so I have appropriate sizes for different components in different boxes.

For resistors I use one with all the mid size ones, which are just right to take standard bandolier width strips.
Two compartments for each decade, with a couple of dozen of each common value we use, the lower half of the decade in one bin and the upper half in the next.

Another box for capacitors, starting with the smallest compartments for ceramics etc. and up to the largest for poly and small electrolytics.

Similar for voltage regs & optos on another, transistors, small connectors, etc. etc.

The boxes are labelled on three sides and stored on a row, standing on edge in a cupboard

Bulk resistors and capacitors stay in their original bags in large plastic storage boxes, topping up the small boxes when needed.
I have a separate box of less commonly used resistors (the full E24 range, separated in decades), for the rare occasion one of those is needed. Many are now over 30 years old, as we tend to try and use very few values where possible to simplify stock..

You're looking to minimize space? Just put them all in a bucket, dump the bucket in the trash, then order new parts as you need them.

If you convert to SMD parts, I have the perfect solution.

Something I had to learn the hard way: Resistors (5%) come in 24 values/decade.
Years ago I got these little boxes. They have 6 compartments left to right. This is my 1.0 to 9.1 box. There are four values per compartment. You can see 3.3, 3.6, 3.9 and 4.3 are together. There is a large compartment that is right for long legged new resistors and in the back there is a small box for salvaged resistors with short legs.


In the background you can see a newer way I save resistors. It took a while to fine drawers that are 6 wide not 5 wide.

ronsimpson said:

Something I had to learn the hard way: Resistors (5%) come in 24 values/decade.
Years ago I got these little boxes. They have 6 compartments left to right. This is my 1.0 to 9.1 box. There are four values per compartment. You can see 3.3, 3.6, 3.9 and 4.3 are together. There is a large compartment that is right for long legged new resistors and in the back there is a small box for salvaged resistors with short legs.
View attachment 118752

In the background you can see a newer way I save resistors. It took a while to fine drawers that are 6 wide not 5 wide.

Click to expand...

Those would work for me if smaller.