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How do you organise your spare parts?

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By the way, what is your assorting method?

iam pick up first the panels, then all liftarms and similar in a big box. the next step is putting the axles in a box, the gears and at last the pins in a box. If there are parts left on the floor they will assorted in the correct assortment box. after this will the parts in the small boxes assorted in the correct places.

and hopefully is enough room in the assortment box pockets :wink:

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workplace_sep2011.jpg

(photo from september '11)

And whole drawer below - filled with boxes, with some parts in ziplocked bags.

Edited by backbone

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two of these - link - for the small parts, they are large enough to take everything up to 12 long axles. Only pain is you have to open each one separately, and for technics its good to have quick access to lots of different connectors. So we're switching to some of these - link - in 4 litre boxes. There is a slight gap at the top but hopefully there won't be too much cross-pollination of pieces.

then we have four 4L boxes from the same really useful range to hold different larger pieces (small technic - 5 holes or less; large technic - 7 holes and up; power functions; misc). Once we move to the divided trays all of that will fit in a standalone tower of 7x4 litre boxes

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All parts are spare parts to a builder! :grin:

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I prefer building on the floor as it gives me a lot more space to work - my desk has my PC on it and there just isnt enough room for the various boxes I am now using haha

Same here, after building my back always hurts.

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I organize my spare parts the same way as bricklink does: axles, pins, liftarms, etc. I had them in drawers but since I am over the road in a semi truck they all are in ziplock bags in a box.

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In the instructions, LEGO encourages you to build the model at a table rather than on the floor...

But they sure don't say anything about how you should build your MOCs!!

:laugh:

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I would guess that you do considering the complex models you create, incredible MOCs though...I'm not so great at it, can't seem to find the right type of sorter that has some bins large enough for all the spare parts I have...seems like I end up having to load 2 or 3 bins just with 15L liftarms...and I made the HUGE mistake of not separating the grays pre-2004, old grey from the light bluish grey and the old dark grey from the dark grey of today's Technic...emptying all the bins, and there was a lot of them to dump out on my work bench in my garage to sort out the grays was a tremendous task...

I have driving rings and clutch gears coming out of my ears...

Makes sense, but separating the parts in a huge model and actually having room to build the model's components and as you add them the model gets larger and larger you need a lot of space and almost a computer chair with wheels to move...gotta invest in one, I only have a chair with feet on it out there. I build all mine on 30"x30" card tables in my garage and usually between the parts and the model becoming larger and longer, its a must to move from table to table, was especially true when I rebuilt my 8285 Tow Truck, its long and with 1877 pieces, well that's a lot to put on a table and sort them out some so I'm not searching for an hour for one unique piece, one of which was the rubber 1x2 with holes in it for axles, I thought it was either lost or I had dropped it somewhere, finally found it under a couple of other pieces, like 2 hours later...went to a hobby store and bought some open top sort bins after that so I could sort pins, axles, liftarms, connectors of one sort or another, and misc pieces small and large, works quite well...

In the instructions, LEGO encourages you to build the model at a table rather than on the floor...

But they sure don't say anything about how you should build your MOCs!!

:laugh:

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I'm too old to build on the floor. My back won't permit it.

I keep my parts in compartment cases, boxes, and baggies. One time I knocked over an opened tackle box of sorted pins, axles, connectors, etc. It was awful. :wacko:

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Here is my workplace :

img_2451.jpg

All my parts are carefully store and I know perfectly where they are ! They are classified by shape, then by color.

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Stanley do a nice range of hobby/parts cases of which I have used quite a few.

Stanley Organiser

Organiser Large

B & Q also do a similar line. I use these sort of cases for small pins, bushes, small gears etc. When parts get bulky or too many for the small divisions, then the parts are evicted to a 500g margarine tub in the drawer of my desk. 15L studless beams will fit nicely in a margarine tub. The tubs are generally the same shape and size, and can sit nicely in a drawer. They also stack when empty. When things get REALLY bulky, then they are moved to the 1L or 2L ice cream tub. Most of the angled plates, 2 stud wide plates, Black studded beams, yellow studded beams all are contained in the Tesco value ice cream tubs.

I find that my parts inventory is fluid. It is always increasing but can vary depending on what is currently built. I am now low on 6L axles and black pins, but i have a big spare box. It is good to have various sizes of tubs. We found that it is better to have a tub or container that you can tip out and look for the correct colour, instead of the organiser where you have to finger through the parts, as this can be fiddly with small light brick, bushings etc.

Hope this helps

Ive got 12 of them containers. Save all my spares in them. Every kit i like i buy one to build and one for spares

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I use about 20 Stanley Organizers that I bought from Lowes over the years... I don't Technically have a Lego room, so the Dining Room serves as my building headquarters... Needless to say not many dinners get eaten in there... I also have a couple of those pull out sorting drawer compartment organizers mounted on the wall for specialty and expensive pieces..

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I sort mine in section-bins.

in the first bin, i have all axles, sorted by legnth, and all of the basic pins and connectors.

the next bin, i have some of the more less-used connectors, and a bunch of the thin-liftarms

in the next bin, i have all L-shaped beams and also shorter beams

I also have a larger bin for the full 16L and 13L beams

i have a bin full of gears sorted by tooth count, and the 5x7 liftarms and my shock absorbers

next, i have a bin of all suspension arms and engine cylindars and parts

and also, i have a bin of random technic parts and some lights to use on my technic

next, i have abin of panels

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LOL, mine are in the organizers you get at Menards. I,m up to 6 and a few plastic small thingy do,s for little things. Right now there all sitting on the dinning room table, I,m kinda in the same boat as you Paul, no LEGO room, LOL. I,ll try to get a pick of it all set up next time I have them out.

Dan

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@dr_spock - know that feeling all too well (dumping the tackle box and the bad back)...I've had a bad back for a few years (too much 'wrong way' lifting in a warehouse and I suppose age is creeping)

I'm too old to build on the floor. My back won't permit it.

I keep my parts in compartment cases, boxes, and baggies. One time I knocked over an opened tackle box of sorted pins, axles, connectors, etc. It was awful. :wacko:

Considering you are an awesome MOC'er I would guess you have tons of parts, I have maybe 2500-3000, just a guess parted out from many sets, but at times I do mods that are posted here and its search, search, search or use a different color of the same part that fits well with that particular model, then naturally later on I find I did have the right colored part...bought a huge standup sorter from Menard's a few years ago but found the largest bins on the bottom row just aren't enough to hold the amount of long liftarms and large pieces like panels and fairings so I just went with the open top sorters I found for those pieces, works fairly well, but since I'm not in MOC'ing the way a lot you guys are, with the exception of a truck trailer or two, I just keep the parts for spares and possibly will list on my Bricklink store down the road...

I use about 20 Stanley Organizers that I bought from Lowes over the years... I don't Technically have a Lego room, so the Dining Room serves as my building headquarters... Needless to say not many dinners get eaten in there... I also have a couple of those pull out sorting drawer compartment organizers mounted on the wall for specialty and expensive pieces..

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