Tackling the Tackle Box

May 5, 2009 2:57 AM

Santa and Mrs Claus need a storage system(s) for a million tiny parts...

I have a delightfully crazy old aunt and uncle who are crafty types -- she's always making custom dolls and such, and he's making tiny trains and mechanical toys and things -- and their 'workshop' is like a kid's wet dream...

But it pains my process-engineering mind when I watch them look for things over and over again, so that a 30-minute task turns into an all-day affair because of the hours of searching through mason jars, coffee cans, muffin tins (I swear) and jewelry boxes for the right doodads. There's everything from little clockwork gears to battery leads to spools of thread and tiny bottles of model paint.

I've asked why they don't get some of those "bug boxes" with a hundred small drawers, like the kind used for nuts and bolts, but the answer I get is "Oh I can't take those upstairs to work outside" or "I need to see everything I have spread out." When I pointed out a small rack of open bins (a smaller version of this sort of thing) I was poo-pooed because "all my pretty parts will get dusty!"

I don't think I am being too nosy here, because I see their frustration in rummaging for things, so I'm looking for more ideas on how to help out. The ideal solution would be:

1. expandable, or at least huge enough to handle ~1000 types of part (I am guessing, but it's more than a couple hundred.)


2. either sub-sorted or modular so that "all the different kinds of googly eyes" could be in one place and "all the tiny wooden gears" in another.


3. explodable, so that it could all be opened (?) for scanning: they won't open and close a hundred drawers to find one thing.


4. protected, just least some of it, since there are some small delicate parts that I know don't like being bashed around and exposed to air and dirt. They're in jewelry boxes now.


5. semi-portable, so that at least parts of the collection (googly eye section and sewing bits, for example) could be taken out to the porch on nice days for working outside.

Links appreciated. The future of Christmas may depend on you all.

posted by rokusan to sports, hobbies, & recreation (15 comments total)

This looks portable and stackable.
posted by b33j at 3:51 AM on May 5, 2009

Fishing tackle boxes? Lots of small, open, divided trays, nice carrying handle...
posted by jon1270 at 3:52 AM on May 5, 2009

Many small metal boxes with clear lids. Optionally epoxy a magnet in the bottom of each box, and it can be stuck onto a metal wall or tray.
posted by Leon at 3:53 AM on May 5, 2009

This takes more - the 5 box slide rack, that is, and this looks pretty sturdy for screws and things.

I guess the big thing is to offer to help them change their system as well. You know, sit with them and go, well, maybe if we put all the eyes in the bit (and labelled it) and all the beads in this bit, and so on. Labels are really good. Try this. Get them the one with the full keyboard so they don't have to learn how to text. Unless of course they're already demon SMSers.
posted by b33j at 3:56 AM on May 5, 2009

A bento box. 1000 storage compartments, see-through lid, USD99. Maybe a larger basket that could hold 5-10 of the bento boxes would make them more portable.

If you're willing to spend more, you can find nice, stackable bento boxes made from wood or plastic.
posted by McGuillicuddy at 4:15 AM on May 5, 2009

I use fishing tackle boxes with clear lids (mine has about 32 compartments) and a week long pill-reminder box that has five compartments for each day for the really tiny screws and things.
posted by bystander at 4:31 AM on May 5, 2009

I'll throw in the first vote for, "Just leave it alone." They've already given you three objections to three suggestions; I think that's code for, "I like things the way they are." If they felt like they needed to change the way it was done, they would have done it already.
posted by joshrholloway at 4:51 AM on May 5, 2009 [1 favorite]

You need one of these. Luckily, most libraries are moving to computer-based card catalogs, so you can often find them for FREE. Yes, I know. It's crazy.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:25 AM on May 5, 2009

Oh, missed the portable aspect. Card catalogs aren't very.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:26 AM on May 5, 2009

I can totally sympathize with the spirit motivating this question, but I have to ask: could this turn into one of those "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink" situations if you present them with the perfect storage system?
posted by adamrice at 6:57 AM on May 5, 2009

I store all my bits and bobs for crafts in various sizes of ziplock bags. We used to get pc parts in small ziplock bags, and I saved a lot of them. Being able to see what's in the bag is excellent.
posted by theora55 at 7:09 AM on May 5, 2009

I would suggest a combination of different sizes of these and some type of fishing tackle/plastic tote box with handles for carrying - obviously you'll need many of each. I make jewelry, and I have manymanymany of these little clear, plastic boxes for gemstones and findings and charms and so forth. The nice thing about this approach versus a "many things in many compartments" method is that you can just snag the boxes you need instead of digging things out of compartments - much more portable for the way I work.
posted by ersatzkat at 7:11 AM on May 5, 2009

Seconding Civil_Disobedient; also typesetter cabinets.
posted by yoHighness at 9:51 AM on May 5, 2009

Screw stack jars, like the ones under the boxes on this page, are a huge help in my crafting organisation for tiny things. I can always see what's in them, they're intensely portable, and the entire collection isn't exposed to spill-dangers when I need something.
posted by batmonkey at 11:31 AM on May 5, 2009

The "racking" boxes and stacking jars were two things I hadn't seen or considered, so best answers for y'all. I also like the labeling idea a lot.

And joshrholloway: I did consider that, quite seriously, but what pushed me over the edge into not not-helping was seeing my aunt get so frustrated at looking for things for so long last week. I think her exact words were "Oh I need a way to organize all this!"

So no worries: I'm pretty fluent in passive-aggressive old-person-ese, and a big fan of leaving well enough alone, but I decided that in this case they'd really appreciate some help.
posted by rokusan at 8:37 AM on May 6, 2009