Divider boxes / individual joinable boxes with lids on each compartment? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: forrestc
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 11, 2023, 10:09:39 pm
content: Now that I'm spending yet another saturday re-sorting a divider box that I dropped spewing screws all over the place, I've had enough.I have some SMD resistor/cap assortment boxes which have lids over each individual compartment, and a lid over the whole thing so it's more rugged when moving around.While these are fine for tiny SMT chip resistors, the individual compartments are too small for anything much larger. Think screws in this case, but I also have things like SMT relays, various through hole components, connectors, and so on. All probably need around a 20mm square compartment at the smallest, but some will need larger compartments. Right now I'm keeping these in plano divider boxes which work really well until I drop a box.I swear that I saw on aliexpress or similar small boxes which were around the size of an individual divider in these boxes (~20mm square, maybe with options smaller/bigger) that each had a lid, and that you could join together into one system as they slid together and interlocked. The ones I saw I remember had some sort of harder colored plastic on the base square part, and the lid I think was out of a clear material. Of course my searching hasn't turned up anything but I probably haven't used the right term.I'd also be happy with something like the SMD one I have where all of the compartments are individually lidded with a lid over the top to keep them all closed but with larger bins.. However, what I don't want to do is to buy some of the cheap "pill organizer" style where the lids are flimsy, and open when you look at them the wrong way. The plano divider boxes have firm latches which don't open unless you want them to.Does anyone know where I can get something like I describe?

author: mendip_discovery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2023, 10:10:23 am
content: I am a sorter and organiser if things. The internet has been and blessing and an annoyance to me.Great I can buy random stuff but when it comes to storage boxes it can be a bit of a pain. Many have misleading photos as in photoshoped hands that make them look big when they are small. Then there are the ones that are just poorly designed and will not stack etc.One thing I have found is that you need to look for boxes that have secure lids but not so secure that in your efforts to open them you end up with everything over the floor.My current plan for sorting electical bits will no doubt involve 3d printed storage but as of yet I just have a few draws with parts in non static bags. I would love to go the sortimo route but that is just expensive.There is a UK Firm that was doing storage stuff and they go by the name of Really Useful Boxes.https://www.reallyusefulstorageboxes.co.uk/really-useful-storage-boxes-0-07-litre-to-1-5-litre-c102x2022624Some of the smaller boxes do stack on the bigger boxes even us just sideways. They also do small racks for the small ones so you can grab them without having to dive through them all.In the shed I have all the nuts and bolts sorted into about 20 boxes and sorted and stored by width, length and type.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2023, 10:35:33 am
content: I inherited a component rack with a number of broken drawers, and have been slowly replacing them with 3D printed ones. One benefit of this is you can configure the drawers to be whatever you want, within reason. I've taken to use the colour to have some meaning too. You could quite easily print dividers of any shape and style for these. A single drawer takes about 2 hours to print.I'm happy to share the design, though it's fairly simple and you would of course need access to a 3D printer (best ~$300 I spent in a while, though you need to be prepared to constantly tweak the bugger to get it printing well.)

author: ledtester
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2023, 11:14:50 am
content: If you have a 3d printer you might be interested in the "gridfinity" project:https://hackaday.com/2022/04/18/gridfinity-3d-printed-super-quick-tool-storage-and-retrieval/The youtube videos:Gridfinity: Your Ultimate Modular Workshop is FREE!https://youtu.be/ra_9zU-mnl83D Print a Modular Toolbox, Soldering Station, and More!https://youtu.be/Bd4NnHvTRAYCatalogs of the models:https://github.com/jeffbarr/gridfinity-cataloghttps://gridfinity.xyz/catalog/

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2023, 03:59:01 pm
content: Quotehttps://www.aliexpress.com/item/32888185297.html

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2023, 04:14:13 pm
content: get those from adafruit. Fast shipping in USA. I got alot of them and they fit together pretty good for the most part. Once you assemble a tile you need to test it, and sometimes there is one or two that don't like opening (warped plastic), so you need to play a little with rearranging them.

author: TomKatt
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2023, 03:40:54 pm
content: I always intend to get super organized, but I always seem to get distracted and then start building something with the parts I'm trying to organize lol.For tiny stuff, I've got a few small storage containers like this on Amazon - I think they are similar to what the OP was describing:https://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Storage-Containers-Transparent-Rectangle/dp/B094VFVRT3For slightly bigger stuff I've had good luck with those stacking organizers:https://www.homedepot.com/p/TACTIX-52-Compartment-Plastic-Rack-with-4-Small-Parts-Organizer-320670/316866758Going up, same idea but bigger and double sided:https://www.amazon.com/HDX-320028-34-Compartment-Organizer-Customizable/dp/B00GYQXRUYFinally, I'm a sucker for those multi-drawer engineer tool chests... I can't afford the real thing, but the Chinese ones are still nice for small items:https://www.harborfreight.com/eight-drawer-wood-tool-chest-94538.htmlIf I won the lottery, I'd buy one of those gazillion drawer antique apothecary chests... I love boxes and clocksEdit - Forgot to mention - for thru hole resistors I gave up on the boxes and went with the plastic bag / card catalog approach. It's worked out fantastically! You can get those small sample bags by the hundreds for cheap on Amazon. It just takes too many storage spaces for all the values, and every time I got it nearly done I somehow ended up with some non E12 values and my OCD required a resort to insert them into their correct location, which meant moving dozens of values one space down to make the new spot. Now if I get a new value, it just gets inserted into it's appropriate position.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2023, 09:30:50 pm
content: Quote from: PlainName on February 12, 2023, 03:59:01 pmYes this is the one OP is referring to.They are OK, but not great. I've had a few lids break off over time. Its good for SMD parts you use very often, but for bulk storage I use other options.Everyone else making suggestions we have many threads already covering the topic:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what-is-your-solution-for-keeping-and-tracking-parts/https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/surface-mount-component-storage/https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/how-compact-can-you-make-a-component-storage-area/https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/smd-component-storage/https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/component-storage-organization/https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/electronic-component-storage/

author: forrestc
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 14, 2023, 05:34:26 am
content: Quote from: PlainName on February 12, 2023, 03:59:01 pmYes, those! Thank you!!!