organizing hardware

[Andy Henriksen]

Not quite sure what forum to stick this in...

For Xmas this past year, I got one of the little plastic deals with a few dozen drawers, used to organize loose screws, and various other hardware. While I thought it would be intuitive, I am having a hard time figuring out how to organize it. Ultimately I would like to have labels on all the drawers with either "6x1 1 1/4 wood screws"-type labels or more simply "small wood screws."

Is there a list somewhere of basic "categories of hardware and fasteners? Wood screws, round head, flat head, deck screws, sheet metal screws, nails, brads, tacks, eye screws, picture hangers, washers, bolts, carriage bolts, lag bolts, galvanized, stainless... Bah! (And yes, this includes non-woodworking fasteners and hardware.)

[Nick Mitchell]

Andy, a few weeks ago I spent about 5 hours going through my shop, my tool boxes, chests, truck, house etc :D collecting all my hardware and screws and whatnot. Iput them all into those plastic container type thingys. Since they're plastic i can see what's in the compartments so I saw no need to label them. I can tell a 1 1/4" #6 from a 1 1/2" #6 instantly. I must say it was time well spent.
After doing all this I realised that if I didn't already have it, I didn't use it. :)

[Ed Lang]

You could also glue one to the front for easy ID.

OR

If you have a flatbed scanner, lay one on it and scann it. Print labels to fit the drawer and have a picture and/or text on it to boot.

I did this for a while, now I just have larger boxes (shop made ones work too) that I put like kinds of things into it still in their original packaging. At least now I know to go to the screw or S hook box to look for the size I want.

[Ellen Benkin]

I have two "systems", neither of which is completely satisfactory. Several years ago I took all my existing "stuff" and sorted it by type (drywall screws, square drive screws, bolts, washers, etc) and then by size. I made labels by printing the info on to Avery mailing lables and cutting them out to fit the plastic drawers. I stuck the labels on the outside of the drawers. This works OK if you never buy a new type of hardware. But, when you do, it all goes to pot. When I buy new stuff, I tear off the end of the box or cut out the label from the container and stuff it into the drawer so that it can be seen from the outside. I still have to search for what I want and often overlook it because the new stuff is out of order. If anyone has a better plan I would like to know it.

[Andy Henriksen]

Thanks guys. My problem is that a few of the drawers have only a few items in them, so it's more difficult to see what's inside, as they may slide to the back or whatever. Also, I'm sure there will be a few similarly sized items sharing a drawer together, since I have only one of the units currently, but I can't figure out how to group them - by length, or diameter. should I keep all the same metals together? I know this is all very trivial, but it's bothering me, darn it, and I want to get those coffee cans emptied and organized!

[Dan Oelke]

I first sort by fastner type - nail, screw, bolt - then by diameter, then by length. I generally don't worry about material (brass, steel, etc) unless I have quite a number of some particular size.

So I have one set of drawers that is all bolts (and washers and nuts) with a row of drawers that has #6, and another row with #8, and another row with #10, and another for 1/4", etc. Usually one drawer will have the nuts and washers (using one of those internal dividers) If I have lock washers too I'll divide the drawer down further, or use a second drawer. Another drawer will have 1/2"-3/4" fastners, with another have 1"-1 1/2" long fastners, etc. I tend to do this somewhat iteratively with subdividing and re-arranging occurring as I get a sizeable number of some size. If I only have a few (< 10?) of a given size it usually gets lumped with the next closest size. I do tend to subdivide those little drawers into 2 or 3 and sometimes 4 compartments.

Speaking of dividing drawers - I found that they never have enough of those dividers in the drawer units, so I use old credit cards that I cut with a good shears. A very small dab of caulk on the edge holds it in place so they don't slip out too easily. I usually use bathtub caulk or whatever I have on hand.

I don't like the "bigger" drawers - I tend to use just the 60-drawer units that are (guessing) 1"x2" front profile. For bigger things (bigger than 1/4" diameter fastners) or larger quanities (like all sizes of drywall screws) I use the plastic bins hanging on a 4'x4' panel I have on the wall.

As for labeling - I was using some address lables that I cut up - (old ones for going through the dot matrix printer) - but I found they don't stick after 2 years or so in my shop/garage. I now need to go back and re-label everything (darn it!). This time I'm going to try the labeler that I got as a present recently. Hopefully that glue will hold up better.

[Ron Taylor]

Ellen, I found a relatively simple solution for the "new stuff" syndrome. I put false fronts on all of the little drawers in my "stuff" cabinet. Each drawer front is 3" wide by 1", 1.5", 2" etc., for various size stuff. When making the drawer fronts, I preplanned all of them to be cut from a single piece of stock according to their height. Before cutting the pieces from the long stock, I ran it with a 1/2" dovetail bit set to about 1/4" depth. This gives me a perfect groove to slide a small label to identify what kind of stuff is inside the drawer. When I change stuff, I just slide out the old label, pencil a new one and slide it in. Works great.

[Keith Outten]

Here is a link to another thread on this subject.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=1023

[Bill Lewis]

Hey Keith,

I was going to mention your method of organization. I'm glad you had a link to it instead. I did take note of it during the swap meet. Neat and unique idea! It wouldn't work for me though, I switched to buying the 5 quart jugs of oil, which get refilled with the old stuff to take to the recycler.

My only advise is to find a method that works for you, and stick to it. I can be pretty terrible about organization, though I've gotten better. I have resolved my fastener organization to a 36 x 18 x 72 shelf unit, using various other organizers or original boxes.

[Matt Meiser]

My problem is that a few of the drawers have only a few items in them, so it's more difficult to see what's inside, as they may slide to the back or whatever.

I use those units for some of my stuff. I use a hot-melt glue gun to glue one of the fasteners to the front of the drawer. Then, if I need that last one, it is easy to remove and use. For a lot of what I have I use hanging bins. For my "good" screws, I keep a bin for each specific size. I also have a few bins that contain miscellaneous screws grouped by type--drywall screws, wood screws, sheet metal screws. I have one bin for machine screws, and one (or two) for each size of bolt.

[John Hart]

If I were to label all my drawers, I would just print up 20 labels that say "Misc Stuff" and put one on every drawer....Since I end up opening every drawer anyway as I'm searching for that perfect washer!:D

I searched for standard lists for labels and I can't find any. There's got to be a gazillion organizer sites out there.

[Ron Taylor]

Oh.. and I forgot to mention that I do have several "Misc" stuff containers. They are also known as "coffee cans". I try to dump one of them on my bench and sort the stuff inside back to the appropriate drawer occasionally. :)

[Keith Outten]

Thanks Bill,

My system works for me, one of the requirements was very low cost because I have so many fasterners to store. What you didn't see at the SwapMeet is the other group of mechanical fasteners that I have in the little white building next to my workshop. There are probaby at least another hundred oil cans in addition to the ones in my main shop.

Many years ago I worked at North Anna Power Station. During construction they used to throw away five gallon buckets of new fasteners daily. Employees were allowed to scavenge in the site scrap yard and we were given gate passes for any materials we could use at home. As I recall it took me a whole Winter to sort the bolts, screws, nuts and washers. After thirty years I still have a huge inventory but some of the common sizes are almost gone now.

Woodworking screws (Square Drive) I generally order from McFeeley's here in Virginia. I always order 3000 at a time so I keep most of them in my toolroom in 5 gallon buckets. I ordered some of the Bucket Boss organizers a few years ago and use them for large jobs in the shop. I made a couple of small wooden dollys and put cushion lids on the buckets so that they could be used as roll-around seats.

Fortunately for me I don't do those kinds of production jobs anymore :)

[Ron Taylor]

It may be a tad off this thread, but I also have another little solution that is really handy. My Mom-In-Law who is 87 years old lives with us and is very fond of Jello. We buy the serving size containers by the six-pack, several at a time. These containers are about half-cup, clear plastic and very tough construction.... tough enough to be washed in the dish washer. They are perfect for counting out screws, washers, hinges, etc for a project. The little tub sits on my bench, happily holding the hardware while I fit and fuss. They are also great for glue, a small amount of paint, cleaner solution, whatever... when they get messy, just toss them and grab another. I have dozens stacked up on a shelf by my bench and use them constantly.

[Kevin Beck]

I finally gave up on using the organizers with all the little drawers a few months ago. I could never find anything in any of them. I gave 5 of them to my nephew and switched to using an organizer like the one below. I have 5 - 6 of these and have them organized with bolts, wood screws, sheet metal screws, etc. They wouldn't work for storage of large quantities but work fine for small numbers of a large number of different items.

I still store my square drive screws in the bins I got from McFeeleys but will eventually move them to this type of storage. McFeeleys has a similar storage system for their square drive screws now also.

[Tom Sontag]

That's what I use too Kevin, although my square drives will stay in their bins. I have maybe 8 of those trays with a masking tape label on the end of each for "bolts" or "nails" (mostly brads actually) or "brass". The trays live in one cabinet with one shelf and get shuffled around. The best part is that when needed, you pull out the whole tray and bring it to the work. I never wanted to deal with one of those apothecary style cabinets with all those tiny drawers - too rigid. I may need to build something to house my trays as I get more.

[George Summers]

I have about 20 hanging plastic bins on the wall. In these I keep those most used fasteners/hardware. You know, the stuff I buy by the box and use over and over (McFeely's stuff and the like). For the rest, the stuff you buy a bag of 6 of at the big box and use 3, the stuff you salvage when you take something apart and find that it is unrepairable, etc, I use coffee cans. I put wood screws in one, sheet metal screws in another, big machine screws, little machine screws, big nuts, little nuts, big washers, little washers etc, you get the idea. I don't spend any time sorting and labeling and switching. It takes about 30 seconds to dump a coffee can onto a sheet of paper, dig through to find the couple of pieces I need and roll the paper back up to dump it all back in the can. Life is too short to spend sorting stuff that costs less than 2¢ ea.

George