# Where does all this stuff come from?



## mikej460 (9 Jan 2021)

In advance of my imminent workshop build I decided to do a couple of fitting out jobs in advance as I can store them safely until the shop is ready. One of these jobs is to replace an astonishing amount of upcycled containers holding all my screws, nails, bolts, nuts etc. etc. with organisers. I then planned to build a organiser rack in birch ply (to match my planned benches and drawers) to hold them all and guessed that 3 deep Stanleys and 5 shallow Stanleys would do the job - how wrong could I be...Having almost used up the 8 I bought I now think I need another 8!

And there's nothing I want to chuck..


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## billw (9 Jan 2021)

Want to or need to?


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## Richard Berry (10 Jan 2021)

I too am a bit of a hoarder. Especially brass - screws, hinges, latches etc. One never knows when you'll need it. I have promised myself that one day I'll get them properly organised.


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## Robbo3 (10 Jan 2021)

I know what you mean!
No wood screws in there. They are in the red tray that you can just see the corner of on the shelves on the left.


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## Oraclebhoy (10 Jan 2021)

Only in my dreams do tools and screws have an organised place to go.


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## robgul (10 Jan 2021)

I think I'm up to about 6 Stanley cases BUT have discovered that B&M Stores sell a very similar product (in 2 sizes) at less than half the Stanley price - equally good quality in my view.


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## billw (10 Jan 2021)

Oraclebhoy said:


> Only in my dreams do tools and screws have an organised place to go.



Most of my screws are in three plastic jars marked small, medium, and large.


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## mikej460 (11 Jan 2021)

billw said:


> Want to or need to?


I am my mother's son and a bit of a hoarder but clearing out my old shop/garage has been a tad cathartic as I chucked (well carefully recycled) several trailer loads of stuff last Autumn. I am renovating our house and I still need a lot of the jam jar stuff for planned work...honest guv'nor. However, yesterday I did find 2 large jars of unused slot screws and I can't even recall buying they are that old. I have found a few large jars of metal brackets etc. left over from our new kitchen and one jar full of new 13A socket screws that I also need to sling as I will never use those either.


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## gregmcateer (11 Jan 2021)

billw said:


> Most of my screws are in three plastic jars marked small, medium, and large.



Love that! My brother has some drawers like the frankly superb photo from Robbo, but I noticed he has the largest two labelled as "Misc Assorted Un-sorted" !!


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## mikej460 (11 Jan 2021)

robgul said:


> I think I'm up to about 6 Stanley cases BUT have discovered that B&M Stores sell a very similar product (in 2 sizes) at less than half the Stanley price - equally good quality in my view.


Thanks for the tip Rob, I had a look and the ones I want are similar to these Kingmann Deep Pro Organiser | DIY | Cheap Tool Storage - B&M (bmstores.co.uk). They are deeper than the Stanley shallow ones but not as deep as the Stanley deep ones. I bought a 3 pack of the Fatmax deep ones for £45 on offer from Screwfix just before Christmas but it looks as if that's ended now which is disappointing. The next cheapest for a 3 pack is £59 from FFX Stanley 197518X3 Fatmax Deep Pro Organiser Triple Pack (ffx.co.uk) 

I can get a 5 pack of shallow ones for £70 with free delivery Stanley STA197519x5 FatMax Shallow Pro Organiser 5Pk (ffx.co.uk). I could be tempted by 3 of the B&M ones but my OCD kicks in and says they should all be the same!


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## jcassidy (11 Jan 2021)

mikej460 said:


> I can get a 5 pack of shallow ones for £70 with free delivery Stanley STA197519x5 FatMax Shallow Pro Organiser 5Pk (ffx.co.uk). I could be tempted by 3 of the B&M ones but my OCD kicks in and says they should all be the same!



My problem with these stacking organisers is that the item I want is inevitetably in a case at the bottom of the stack.


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## robgul (11 Jan 2021)

jcassidy said:


> My problem with these stacking organisers is that the item I want is inevitetably in a case at the bottom of the stack.


Easily solved! - positioned between two recycled kitchen wall cupboards (pic is blurred as it's cropped out of bigger image and enlarged)
- there's another stack further along the cupboard run - and you can't really see but they all have labels


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## Spectric (11 Jan 2021)

You can have racks of screws, nuts, bolts and shelves of wood offcuts but remember sods law, you will never have or find what you want, always just to short.


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## britinfrance (11 Jan 2021)

mikej460 said:


> In advance of my imminent workshop build I decided to do a couple of fitting out jobs in advance as I can store them safely until the shop is ready. One of these jobs is to replace an astonishing amount of upcycled containers holding all my screws, nails, bolts, nuts etc. etc. with organisers. I then planned to build a organiser rack in birch ply (to match my planned benches and drawers) to hold them all and guessed that 3 deep Stanleys and 5 shallow Stanleys would do the job - how wrong could I be...Having almost used up the 8 I bought I now think I need another 8!
> 
> And there's nothing I want to chuck..


OMG, I am so with you -I have 3 just for my Pozidrive screws, another for pocket hole screws. I have had three "ruthless" clearouts and don't seem to have gained any extra space. I guess I have at least 10 organisers that cover all the small parts used in DIY and house renovation. Equally, finding the correct one, when you want it is an ongoing problem.


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## mikej460 (11 Jan 2021)

robgul said:


> Easily solved! - positioned between two recycled kitchen wall cupboards (pic is blurred as it's cropped out of bigger image and enlarged)
> - there's another stack further along the cupboard run - and you can't really see but they all have labels
> View attachment 100713


Yes my plan was to build one quarter of this guys storage but I now need one half of it
Sorta Sortimo Small Parts Rack & Sorting Station - YouTube


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## mikej460 (11 Jan 2021)

I have promised myself to carry on asking 'do I really NEED this or is it a just in case hoard' if it's the latter they're going in the recycle bin. I am also labelling each box so I know what's in there at a glance.


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## billw (11 Jan 2021)

I am genuinely fascinated by the ability of people to accumulate hardware. If you figured out how many units you could put together just using the fixings you already own it would be enough to fill an entire Ikea warehouse.


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## robgul (11 Jan 2021)

mikej460 said:


> Yes my plan was to build one quarter of this guys storage but I now need one half of it
> Sorta Sortimo Small Parts Rack & Sorting Station - YouTube



That really needs some tambour doors to finish it off!


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## mikej460 (11 Jan 2021)

robgul said:


> That really needs some tambour doors to finish it off!


Yes it's a bit of a beast. I'm going to put birch ply doors on mine to keep the dust out.


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## jcassidy (12 Jan 2021)

mikej460 said:


> Yes my plan was to build one quarter of this guys storage but I now need one half of it
> Sorta Sortimo Small Parts Rack & Sorting Station - YouTube



I'd murder a PopTart right now.


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## hugov (17 Jan 2021)

I have a bunch of Wham organiser boxes (5.01 Organiser 38cm with 10 Divisions Clear - 12893 - What More UK) – I like them better than Stanley/Sortimo/etc boxes since they much cheaper, waste much less space (better external volume to internal useable volume ratio), and they're clear so you can see some of what's inside from without having to go through the stack. They (used to?) stock them at Homebase, and I think they're even made in the UK. They're robust enough for workshop use, but probably not for site use.


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## dannyr (17 Jan 2021)

jcassidy said:


> I'd murder a PopTart right now.



There's a rusty pop-tart in the third box down, second cupboard, beneath M8 bolts. Labelled 'assorted convenience foods'.


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