Box of Bolts?

In reply to Tyler H:

Yeah, it takes awhile to sort everything, but for me the time payback is totally there. I always need a screw, bolt, or washer for something, and I know right away if I have it or not. a few mintes saved for each bolt you look for adds up quick. And once you have a sorting system, it is very easy to keep them sorted.

Mine are just arranged by metric/sae, diameter, and then thread pitch. Then I just dig a little to get the right length.

ProDarwin wrote: Do you guys sort your spare-bolt bins? Mine is just a 5 gallon bucket and its a huge pain in the ass to find something I'm looking for vs. in a nice organized tray.

I have multiple cabinets of the small bins, although I still need to go through the collecting and sorting process. My ex- and I (OK - mostly me) spent about a week during the winter in front of the TV and woodstove sorting everything by size and type.

Yes - it was tedious, but being able to look in a bin and know almost instantly if I have the bolt I need made it worth the time investment. Plus, when I buy more hardware, the excess has a good home.

I looked on Boltdepot.com and made a list of all the normal sizes and thread counts they sell, then made P-touch labels for the bins. Some are empty. I usually just put nuts and bolts in the same bin, maybe adding a divider.

The bin cabinets are about $15 ea. at Harbor-Freight.

Tyler H wrote: Dump on the floor, pick what you want, scoop it up and put it back. Think about how long it would take to organize 100lbs of hardware into little bins, and the time payback isn't there.

I vehemently disagree. The time pay-back is huge. Like I said, it's a good Winter "in front of the TV" project, although I admit it helps if SWMBO is into cars as well (hell - the coffee cans of mixed hardware were HERS!), a bit of a neat-freak and having nuts and bolts spread out all over the sunroom for the cause of organizing was "fun" for her...

I have like 7 of the big plastic maxwell house containers full, i always tell myself im going too sort them. I picked up alot of them when i worked in motorcycle assembly. Any extras or take outs went home with me.

Ian F wrote:

Tyler H wrote: Dump on the floor, pick what you want, scoop it up and put it back. Think about how long it would take to organize 100lbs of hardware into little bins, and the time payback isn't there.

I vehemently disagree. The time pay-back is huge. Like I said, it's a good Winter "in front of the TV" project, although I admit it helps if SWMBO is into cars as well (hell - the coffee cans of mixed hardware were HERS!), a bit of a neat-freak and having nuts and bolts spread out all over the sunroom for the cause of organizing was "fun" for her...

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have all of my hardware organized neatly. I appreciate people who are more OCD than me. I at least keep SAE and metric in two different buckets.

In reply to Tyler H:

Oh believe me, the OCD neat-freak gene skipped over me in a big way. The overwhelming amount of crap in my house is a testament to that. However, if I can make my wrenching life easier with minimal investment, I'll do it.