As my collection of small components grows, it is becoming… messy. And it is not even large yet, I have only done a handful of hobby projects.
Recently I had the realization that I can make use of Chinese ‘Sample Books’ to keep the smaller reel components well organized. I have ordered 0402, 0603, the 0805, and two empty books to use these as the basis of my organization:
What made me originally select the strategy of keeping the original packaging that the components came and stuffing them into project-specific bags is the labeling. My first attempt at organization was to to use small storage boxes for sorting, but when I tried to keep single labeled components per box I ran out of boxes very quickly… When I mix multiple components in a box (like different photodiodes, for example), then it is difficult to label them separately without using too much space.
I am curious about what methods others use for keeping a component library organized and easy to search.
I got a couple of these off AliExpress. Added printed labels on the drawers. Work pretty well. For larger projects, a plastic shoebox with all the bits and bobs needed for that one project.
I do have a wall with similar boxes. From the image, I am not sure if they are the same size. I just measured one of my small drawers and it is 14 cm x 5.5 cm x 5 cm. Since I have many different tiny components, I quickly ran out of space when I tried to give each component its own drawer.
But I think that I might be able to do a better job with these if I take everything out and start organizing again. I set the rules for how to place things before I started buying SMD components, and many of the through-hole components I can combine without problem. An improvement would be if I can find something like this but with many more and much smaller boxes.
My component list is small, generic things go in a tackle box, like they use for fishing. And things that are project specific stay in a small box for that project. It’s not perfect, but it works well enough.
When you mix different components into one of the boxes, do you have a system to label them? Or are the components easy enough to recognize by looking at them?
I keep the digikey labels. (Or other stores) Usually in the shipping baggies.
Thanks! The problem I run into is that the bags end up taking up a lot more space than the components themselves. Yesterday I started testing printing a small label with the component’s code and sticking it into the reel.
I use a binder with those clear plastic sheets with compartments, meant for card collecting, for my small components, and assortment boxes, with removable compartments, for the rest.
The binder is great! Tons and tons of small compartments (or fewer big ones) with a huge selection og organization accessories, in very little space. Don’t turn it upside down, though. I put electrical tape over the openings of the compartments, to avoid that catastrophe.
Ooh, I like that idea for the larger components that don’t fit into the smaller binder. I bought some trading card sheets to test. Thanks :D
