workshops

[tomg]

The most compact method for storing parts I have found is the 3X5 ziploc
baggie. I think they are 100/$5 or something from MCM, I haven't ordered
any for a loooong time so....things do change. Here is the way it works, you
get the bags and put a piece of thin cardboard in there with the part # written
on the top. I use inventory tags. Then you buy some cheap cardboard parts
bins. I use a "Perma Bin Box #01240". And put your bags in order by #/group.

You can store resistors,caps,trannys..ect the same way. For CMOS put 
your chips on conductive foam and stick it in a bag. I have reduced entire
walls of bins that took all day to inventory to 2 or 3 Perma bins that you
could do in an hour! This is great for inventory, for bench parts I use a 50 
drawer ( 5 rows of 10 ) parts cabinet, 60 would be better!! 

Row 1 is ele caps - 1uf, 5uf, 10uf, 50uf, 100uf - (if it's a 22uf it goes in 10uf, 68uf goes in 50)
  
          and misc   - proto-board jumpers, p-b wires, leds, trimmers, ic sockets.
Row 2 other caps - 50pf, 100pf, 220pf, 470pf, .001, .005, .01,.05,0.1,.47
Row 3 resistors    - 100, 470, 1k, 4.7k, 10k, 47k, 100k, 470k, 1m, 10m ( like caps 22K goes in 10k)
Row 4 simis         - misc xst, pnp, npn, fet, diode, compair, single op, dual op, quad op, array
Row 5 simis         - curtis, regs, bbd, ota, timer, photo, cmos, ttl, norton, specific

I mix my bench parts together in the drawers. In the ota bin I found LM13600/13700/CA3080/
CA3280/NE5517. The 50pf drawer had everything from 10pf to 47pf. The array drawer had
3046, 3096 and mad1108s. This works out, if I don't have a 2.2k in the drawer there is 
probibly a 2.7K or 1.8K right there to sub with. Bags are nice for inventory drawers are
better for building.

Necessary stock.

diodes - 1n914, 1n4001, 4.7v - 9.1v - 12v - 15v zener 
transistors - 2n3904/3906,tip29/30, 2n3055/2955 (to220) , tip141/146 (to220) 
                 - 2n3819, 2n4392
arrays - lm3046 ( 5 npn) , ca3096 (2 pnp 3 npn)
single opamp - lm741, lm301, ne5534, tlo71
dual opamps - lm1458, jrc4558, ne5532, tlo72
quad opamps - lm324, tlo74, tlo84, lm3900
regulators - 78/7905, 78/7912, 78/7915, lm317/337
comparitors - lm331, lm339, lm393
timers - lm555, lm556
cmos - 4001, 4007, 4011, 4049 , 4050, 4051/52/53 , 4066, 4069, 4071, 4081

95% of the stuff I build is out of these parts.

-tg