GOOD IDEA Post your genius ideas here

[MmmPedals]

GOOD IDEA BAD IDEA. We already have the bad idea thread running ("more stupid tales from the bench") so i figured it would be a GOOD IDEA for us to share our innovations that made building easier.

I was struggling for a while to find a good system for storing resistors and capacitors in a way that they would be readily accessible. They posed more of a problem for me because there are so many values so storage boxes werent doing it for me. not to mention the difficulty in finding a divided box that could hold a resistor. Drawers also not an option, no room on the bench.
Then one day...   a cardboard box (I made them out of a larger box) about the width of the little baggies the resistors and caps come in. label and line up the baggies, place dividers at strategic points (i.e. one section <1k next section 1k-10k next 11k-50k etc) keeps all the parts compact and easy to find.

[Joe Hart]

LISTEN to the wisdom of this forum! Too often I think I can do something "better" and end up finding out that the advice from the people on this forum were spot on and I should have just done it that way to start with. That's the one thing that has made building easier for me.
-Joe Hart

[Brymus]

For resistors and non electro caps I use a standard shoebox and small envelopes.
I use one box for metal film one for carbon film and one for all my small box,ceramic,and tantalum caps.
Its very easy to label the envelopes and flip through them like a file cabinet,baggies tend to lay down and get unorganized.
For the small caps I cut cardboard dividers to seperate the types >box,ceramic,tantalum.
All are put in ascending order so finding them is a breeze,the resistors I have large amounts of I simply put 100-200 in the envelope and put a notation that I have more and store them in a plastic tub elsewhere.
Everything else is stored in those plastic drawer cabinets like SamllBear was touting awhile back,or in the small plastic organizers that people use for crafts and such,again Small Bear sells these too.
My large HV caps are stored in plastic tubs meant for storing clothes,and reside under my desk(too hot here to store in garage).

For some really great tips ,find Paul Marossy's thread on stuff that makes building easier he has a very organized bench  

[Bad Chizzle]

Hell yeah!

I love this idea. I've got parts everywhere, and it's driving me crazy! Sometimes I won't even get started on something for a while cause I know I'm gonna be digging through so much crap to find everything I need for my build. I too find that the plastic drawers don't really do it for me. Although I could start using mine to organize specific build parts. That's something I've been thinking about. So, yeah, I've been using plastic bags for while, but I'm about to lose my mind with that method! I like the envelope idea, i may go with that and see how that one works out. Anythings got to be better than what I've got going now!

[Bad Chizzle]

Ok, so I didn't really add anything in the way of a ( Good idea) in my last post, so I thought I'd contribute the only thing I can think of right now.  I found some good prices on many of the parts I use at Tayda electronics. So, if you don't already go there, check it out.

http://www.taydaelectronics.com

[Brymus]

Well I cant claim the idea was mine.
I read it here quite awhile ago 
But it used to be such a pain searching for values,now its super easy.Makes breadboarding a new build about 5X faster.
reading the vaue off an envelope is ALOT easier than reading it off a plastic baggie,I put the values in the top right corner of the envelope.
Not only does it make building easier but cleaning up the work space is easy too.
All those different values seem to breed on my desktop while expirementing with the breadboard.
I actually have drawers in the orginizers dedicated to loose caps and resistors,transistors when they get crowded,I use the DMM and magnifying glass and put them back in the envelopes.
Another cool idea that is mine is I use a beading tray for holding loose parts ,tools,ect.
About 3$ at a bead or craft store.It keeps stuff from sliding onto the floor and can be moved to a shelf to clear the work space.
I also use the clear square containers/tubs that deli meats come in for holding salvaged parts,hardware ,projects.
With the lids off they stack nice and tight forming one unit and you can see whats inside or you can use the lid to secure the contents as well.

[MikeH]

I moved my workshop to the furthest corner of the basement where I can't hear my wife yell at me.   

[oldschoolanalog]

I moved my workshop to the furthest corner of the basement where I can't hear my wife yell at me.   

I just turn up the volume on the "shop boombox" and make believe I can't hear her. 

[tednet]

I don't even have a wife 

[phector2004]

cool thing I wanna experiment with is hot lamp/thermistor combo in place of an optocoupler
maybe it'll work, maybe it wont, probably not cause the filament heating will be relatively slow, but it may have uses elsewhere

Also, homemade components  
made a 0.0047nF cap out of aluminum foil and a film canister in high school. Thinner dielectric + larger surface area = Mega-Mojo Rangemaster, perhaps?
one of these days I'll get liquid electrical tape and dielectric of some sort, see what I can do with that barely used "Alcan" roll!

[.Mike]

I don't know which of you geniuses came up with this one-- it certainly wasn't me-- but I wouldn't breadboard without it...

[nick d]

        Never be without the following:-
                             
                                1) A DMM
                                2) AN AUDIO PROBE !!!!!!!!!!
                                3) Either a magnifying glass or bloody good eyesight
                                4) A functional brain

                               Even with these , you may still struggle , so I would also add :-
                                   
                                   Patient friends and a sense of humour!!

[Derringer]

Here's how I store my resistors.

Each tray gets two values ... R and 10 x R .... that way I only have to tell the difference between two colors


my electros and pots are in this same container, they get their own tray by specific value
my small caps are in fishing tackle-boxs that have about 15 dividers each, each divided section gets one value