Stocking your parts bins: how to amass an organize a useful set of parts?

[iaresee]

I've only just gotten into building pedals despite being an EE in the semi-conductor industry for going on 8 years now. I've been buying parts piecemeal as I do things: fix guitars, build a pedal, breadboard a fuzz, etc. I'm thinking now I need to get a set of bins together that'll let me move through projects a little faster. I'm willing to invest, lets say, $250 or so to get myself setup for general building. I own all the tools already. And resistors are plentiful in my existing bins. But transistors, ICs, capacitors...those I've been buying as I need them (and it slows down the experimentation process big time). What about IC mounts? Transistor mounts? Anything else worthwhile keeping on hand?

What do you think the definitive "getting started" set of parts bins would look like?

I'm also curious to see how people store and organize their stuff. Right now my resistors are all in one box, sorted only by power rating. It can make the search for a specific value...fun. I'm an apartment dweller with a little kid so I build at the kitchen table by night and have to put it all away when I'm done. I was thinking of going with those plastic, lidded, flat stack things with the little dividers and some anti-static foam for the ICs. Anyone got some suggestions for portable organization?

[frank_p]

Hope you will be more lucky than me in you quest of classifying things. 

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=66443.msg528589#msg528589

[ayayay!]

I too have to put everything away each night, so this works for me:  Last year for Fathers Day at Wal Mart I bought myself a bin organizer with clear pull out drawers (not the open ended ones) with 3 additional flat divder organizers.  $15.  Sharpie marked each drawer so I can see what's in the bins w/o having to take the whole thing out.  It also came with a "tackle box" type of organizer, which is PERFECT for putting the tools in:  Solder, Wick, Cutters, Large Screwdrivers, Strippers, Needlenose...

As far as caps, this is a great start:  http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=170  and I also recommend getting an order together of the Panasonic Metal Film caps from Digikey.  IIRC, they also have assortment boxes sometimes.  Yes, get the transistor/IC sockets!  Shop around for best price.  One thing I always come up short on in building is pots!  Get some of everything, including trim pots.  Get some WIRE on a spool.  I like 24 or 26 AWG stranded.  

Also, if you have an electronics store in town that has this kind of stuff, go there just to get ideas, but don't buy anything unless you must.  Usually everything online is cheaper.  

For the resistors, man you're on your own in that pile!    

My last piece of advice is to only invest $100 - $175 at the moment, and save your last chunk as your specific needs will become more clear after you get your initial purchase.  

[iaresee]

Hope you will be more lucky than me in you quest of classifying things. 

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=66443.msg528589#msg528589

Heh. Those are pretty funny looking. I'm not too interested in buying a lot of old surplus and sifting through it for the gems (yet). I'm more interested in what I should be buying from the new stock lists. If I was going to put in a big Electro-Sonic or Mouser order what should it be? That sort of thing.

[iaresee]

I too have to put everything away each night, so this works for me:  Last year for Fathers Day at Wal Mart I bought myself a bin organizer with clear pull out drawers (not the open ended ones) with 3 additional flat divder organizers.  $15.  Sharpie marked each drawer so I can see what's in the bins w/o having to take the whole thing out.

I'll take a look around for that at my local Wal-Mart. I keep meaning to drop by the local dollar store to see what wonderful junk they might have for organizing things. Man, I remember when we used *film* and storage compartments were easy to come by: you just take more pictures and voila! You'd end up with more of those little clear plastic film canisters the you'd know what to do with.

As far as caps, this is a great start:  http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=170  and I also recommend getting an order together of the Panasonic Metal Film caps from Digikey.  IIRC, they also have assortment boxes sometimes.  Yes, get the transistor/IC sockets!  Shop around for best price.  One thing I always come up short on in building is pots!  Get some of everything, including trim pots.  Get some WIRE on a spool.  I like 24 or 26 AWG stranded.

Thanks. Useful grab bags like that are perfect. Exactly what I'm after. Quantities of things that will get used. I will invest in a few small spools of wire, but I was leaning towards solid core. Do you think there's a big advantage to using stranded inside a pedal? It doesn't get moved around very much. Solid core would work with my breadboard as well as with the perf and PCB projects.

Pots! Yup: definitely need more of those. And maybe a handful of stereo and mono 1/4" sockets. A handful of DC barrel sockets too.

Also, if you have an electronics store in town that has this kind of stuff, go there just to get ideas, but don't buy anything unless you must.  Usually everything online is cheaper.

Yea, I went by Active Electronics a few weekends ago. Not a bad place but they were pretty picked over. The trouble with browsing is I buy too many things I don't necessarily need but think are cool (like really what am I going to do with 2 metres of heat shrink tubing? Opps...). I get taken in by the shiny and the colorful.

For the resistors, man you're on your own in that pile! 

I'm good on the resistor front. Lots left over from my university days.

My last piece of advice is to only invest $100 - $175 at the moment, and save your last chunk as your specific needs will become more clear after you get your initial purchase.

Thanks. I'll lower the budget. That's a good idea.

[frank_p]

I put my components in small "zip" plastic bag (1$ store) and put a small note in the bag for identification/source/voltage ratings etc...
Then I make cardboard box that have the same width than the bags.  I lineup everything by increase of value or part number.

This way it's taking less space than if parts were in (not full  ) bins.

I've bought value packs for resistors.  But it's not worth it for these low cost items.  You take too much time to sort them for what they cost (unless you want to practice your color code abilities).

For caps I repeat my question:

Are those futurlec value packs have a "well distributed" values or you can get per ex. 75% of a certain value and the other 25% in an assortment ?
I was considering those, but anyone knows what is in these packs ?

[rikkards]

Another suggested location is Canadian Tire (as you are a fellow Canuck). I bought a 60 compartment organizer. Advice is if you are like me and when ordering resistors you buy in bulk (i.e. 200 pcs) , assume one compartment per component. Otherwise, they do provide dividers but in my opinion not enough.  
Here is what I bought:
http://tinyurl.com/58r5c7

Yea, I went by Active Electronics a few weekends ago. Not a bad place but they were pretty picked over. The trouble with browsing is I buy too many things I don't necessarily need but think are cool (like really what am I going to do with 2 metres of heat shrink tubing? Opps...). I get taken in by the shiny and the colorful.

Thanks. I'll lower the budget. That's a good idea.

[ayayay!]

This is a great value and package!

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?pname?site=us;lang=en;name=P4542-KIT-ND



Only 2 left in stock!

[Mark Hammer]

The "big matrix" parts bins like rikkards got are very handy.  The challenge seems to be more one of having a classification system that will anticipate what you eventually acquire.

What I find handy is the little plastic organizer boxes you can get from Michaels or similar crafts stores  You'll find them in the section where needlepoint suppleis are kept.  One of those is great for sorting your chips.  Another for sorting transistors, and another for things like IC sockets.

That will give you the flexibility to invent your classification system for passive components for the big parts organizer as you go along.

[iaresee]

Another suggested location is Canadian Tire (as you are a fellow Canuck). I bought a 60 compartment organizer. Advice is if you are like me and when ordering resistors you buy in bulk (i.e. 200 pcs) , assume one compartment per component. Otherwise, they do provide dividers but in my opinion not enough. 
Here is what I bought:
http://tinyurl.com/58r5c7

I've used those drawer units before. I find they don't travel too well. One serious tilt and it's out the back side. I currently have two units that are sort of like these:

http://tinyurl.com/5zjy4h

But I'd need 3-4 more to really handle things well and that's a lot to pack and unpack every night after the little guy goes to bed. But your link gave me an idea. This looks like a nice, single-unit-stacking-divide-compartment-with-secure-lid option:

http://tinyurl.com/687num

Basically a caddy plus the things I'm using now. Cool. I'll check 'em out tonight!

[iaresee]

This is a great value and package!

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?pname?site=us;lang=en;name=P4542-KIT-ND

Only 2 left in stock!

That's pretty cool but I'd blow my now lowered budget pretty quickly with only 3 of those.

[m-theory]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94375
I bought something similar to this at Target.  Mine is also 40 drawer, but it's laid out different, with more drawers across, and not as tall as this one.  

As for what values to stock, I wish I could find this particular link that I stumbled across some time ago, that listed all of the common caps and resistors for audio projects, with a percentage value assigned to each one, so you could see just how often you'd run across it.  Very cool, but very lost now.  

As for stock, anybody that sells a "value pack" assortment of either resistors or caps is likely to stuff it with quite common numbers.  I've really taken a liking to the miniature metal film caps that effectsconnection has.  They also have common values for metal film resistors and electrolytics, and they're priced pretty well.  

[Minion]

If you want a Good assortment of Parts for cheap look on e-bay because you can usually find huge LOTs of parts for really cheap ,I mean really cheap ...Like about 1/10 the price you would pay on digikey ,I have gotten lot of parts there and for very cheap.....

[ayayay!]

My affinity for Harbor Freight grows with each passing day...

[frank_p]

Are those futurlec value packs have a "well distributed" values or you can get per ex. 75% of a certain value and the other 25% in an assortment ?
I was considering those, but anyone knows what is in these packs ?

As for stock, anybody that sells a "value pack" assortment of either resistors or caps is likely to stuff it with quite common numbers.  I've really taken a liking to the miniature metal film caps that effectsconnection has.  They also have common values for metal film resistors and electrolytics, and they're priced pretty well. 

Thanks for answering a bit of my question.

[rikkards]

Yeah it wouldn't be great if it needs to be moved around. Right now it is sitting on my workbench but at somepoint I would like to put it on a wall as it has the required holes to hold screws. The biggest disadvantages with it for me is:
1. Not enough of the separators. They give you a token 8 or 10 of them which really isn't enough.
2. sometimes the separator will move up if jostled and some components will slip underneath.

I've used those drawer units before. I find they don't travel too well. One serious tilt and it's out the back side. I currently have two units that are sort of like these:

http://tinyurl.com/5zjy4h

But I'd need 3-4 more to really handle things well and that's a lot to pack and unpack every night after the little guy goes to bed. But your link gave me an idea. This looks like a nice, single-unit-stacking-divide-compartment-with-secure-lid option:

http://tinyurl.com/687num

Basically a caddy plus the things I'm using now. Cool. I'll check 'em out tonight!

[culturejam]

There are several sellers on eBay that do the resistor assortments. Just search for "resistor assortment" 

I prefer having a broad range of resistors on hand at all times. When I get the bug to build, I don't want to wait 4 or 5 days for an order to arrive or have have to pay way too much at Radio Shack.

I bought a few of the capacitor assortments from  Futurlec, and they've served me well. If you don't mind waiting 2 weeks for it to be delivered, Futurlec is very economical. Their "value packs" are a nice starting point for stocking up.

http://www.futurlec.com/ValuePacks.shtml

[iaresee]

I prefer having a broad range of resistors on hand at all times. When I get the bug to build, I don't want to wait 4 or 5 days for an order to arrive or have have to pay way too much at Radio Shack.

That is exactly my situation now. It's particularly frustrating when you haven't got a lot of time to spend traveling around and picking parts up.

I bought a few of the capacitor assortments from  Futurlec, and they've served me well. If you don't mind waiting 2 weeks for it to be delivered, Futurlec is very economical. Their "value packs" are a nice starting point for stocking up.

http://www.futurlec.com/ValuePacks.shtml

Wow. Those are great prices. I think some of my budget is destined for a FutureLec purchase...

[jefe]

+1 on the Futurlec value pacs - I started last year with a few of those myself. I also like their 50 cent alpha pots - buy 3 or 4 of each value, maybe more than that for 100k audio & linears.

Based on a recommendation from some old thread around here, I orgainze my resistors & caps in coin envelopes, which are available at office supply stores like Staples. You can write the values on the envelopes, and stand them up in rows in a shoebox or similar sized container. For things like pots & knobs, I use the clear plastic boxes with lids & dividers.

[iaresee]

Based on a recommendation from some old thread around here, I orgainze my resistors & caps in coin envelopes, which are available at office supply stores like Staples. You can write the values on the envelopes, and stand them up in rows in a shoebox or similar sized container. For things like pots & knobs, I use the clear plastic boxes with lids & dividers.

Another good idea. Easy and cheap enough to dedicate an envelope to each part value. And compact enough. They've got them fancy pants "photo" plastic boxes now too for something more durable than a shoe box. I'm going to look into this option. Thanks!