How Do You Store Your Kits?

[GDIS46]

I seem to have collected a large number of pen-making kits which I currently store in an older Home Depot plastic tote with movable partitions but I am running out of room. I could start making more pens to lower the inventory or find a larger storage container. How do you store your parts kits?

 

[Chadwick in SF]

I was using the tubs but recently bought a couple plastic peg board kits at Home Depot and like it much better. Looking for a bushing solution next!

 

[jttheclockman]

Have mine in plastic containers and have stacked under some rolling carts now. They have labels in front so I can find somewhat easier. Probably have over 500 kits. The real big $$$ ones are in the cart. Found these rolling carts to be great and now that I am having kitchen redone they will need access to basement so over the last year I have been organizing to the point where it is easily moved if need be. Have segmenting stuff in another rolling tool box as well as casting stuff in another. I just wish I can get back to shop work. I miss it tremendously. I get the itch when I see some nice pens and other projects get posted here.

 

[GDIS46]

I like that idea.

 

[leehljp]

Plastic shoe boxes, the Dollar General $1.00 boxes mostly. Labeled.

 

[Woodchipper]

Luncheon meat containers. Stack very easily.

 

[Jim Smith]

I store my kits in hardware storage racks and I use two Keurig lazy-susan pod holders for the bushings. Each Keurig pod holder holds 30 sets of bushings.

 

[egnald]

Greetings from Nebraska! I really like Jim's Keurig solution for bushings, pretty cool! - I store my kits in little plastic drawer storage units and the overflow in small plastic containers on a shelf. Right now my bushings are in little plastic jars in plastic boxes that hold 12 jars each. I have my kits and bushings color coded according to a general pen type and then tied back into a 3-ring binder that holds all of my instruction sheets and notes about each type. I store my frequently used wood blanks in 5x8 bags hanging from hooks under a shelf. The blank overflow is in 6-quart plastic totes stacked on the shelf above them. I keep my plastic blanks on a shelf under my kits. Here are some pictures - Dave

 

[KMCloonan]

I store my kits in a drawer tower I picked up at Goodwill. It's about 14" wide, 24" deep, and each drawer is about 4" high. Each drawer is divided into 6 compartments. I write the kit drawer location on the instructions sheet. My bushings I store in smaller numbered drawers, each of which has 2 compartments (a & b). I also write this on the kit's direction sheet. Working pretty well so far. (Edit: I also like the Keurig option mentioned above).

 

[penicillin]

I would not label myself OCD. I'll let everyone else do it for me.

We make pens for gifts. I like to keep a supply of various pen kits and blanks on hand. Pen supplies are stored in stacked bins. There are certain combinations that are especially common gifts from us, like pink plastic (acrylic) with the Breast Cancer pen kit, Bethelem Olive Wood with Faith/Hope/Love pen kit, etc. I also keep the usual Slimline, Manhattan/Gatsby kits, and a variety of others - you get the idea.

I also keep a "Pen Kit Inventory" spreadsheet of all the pen kits we have on hand. We can refer to it on my computer without going to the shop to see what we have, which is convenient when we find out that we need a gift. I keep a printout with the kits in the shop and mark it up. When they get out of sync too much, I'll bring it in and update the spreadsheet on the computer.

I do not keep inventories of pen blanks. Like most people here, I have many more pen blanks than kits, and I am not immortal.

Photos:

• Pen Kits and Supplies
  • You can see the stacked supplies. Top to bottom:
    • Plastic Pen Blanks
    • Pen Kits
    • Knife Kits and Kitchen Tool Kits
    • Wood Pen Blanks
    • Small Wood Pieces (which can be made into pen blanks, etc.)
• Pen Kits with Spreadsheet.
  • The kits are grouped by type. Slimlines, Manhattan/Gatsby (Wallstreet/Sierra types), etc.
  • The spreadsheet has columns for Kit Type, Finish, Quantity on Hand, Drill Size, and Comments
    • Finish actually means plating type - gold, chrome, rhodium, antique brass, etc.
    • For kits I buy from Rockler, I also write the five digit Rockler ID number in parentheses with the Kit Type. That's useful for finding replacements, and also for differentiating between "Gold" and "Gold 24k" Slimline kits.

Waaaay Off Topic:
If you look carefully at the first photo, you might notice the small, high precision calipers that I use to check sizes as I turn the pen blank on the lathe. The calipers are between the level and the framing squares, around the clock. ;-)

... When I want a bigger lathe, I'll point to those calipers and tell my spouse, "I need a bigger lathe so I can make good use of those priceless calipers." The problem is that she knows me all too well. :-o

 

[jcm71]

I use old 3.5" and 5.25" floppy disk cases. I accumulated quite a lot of them back when floppies were in use.

 

[qquake]

I've got pen kits everywhere. In the boxes they were shipped in, various plastic containers, and even toolboxes. No organization, no rhyme or reason, just like my life.

 

[BCnabe]

Sports card (baseball, football, etc) storage boxes work well. They come in 2, 3 or 4 rows.

 

[JUICEDSS]

Wooden cigar boxes.

I use these from Harbor Freight to store the bushings. The small boxes fit in my cigar boxes. I put a label on the small box to tell which bushings they are. https://www.harborfreight.com/24-container-storage-box-90243.html

 

[jttheclockman]

I too recently bought something like those small containers for my bushings but as of yet not gotten around to putting them in there. On my to do list.

 

[penicillin]

(For pen kit and pen blank storage and organization, see my post above.)

BUSHINGS:
I always keep bushings in their labeled, original envelopes. Those envelopes are in an old upside down CD-R lid. That is not important.

-> What is important is that I never have more than one bushing envelope open at a time. It is an inviolable rule for me.

When I mount the pen blanks for turning on the lathe, I pull out the bushing set I need at that time. Once the pen is turned and it is ready for sanding and finishing, I remove the bushings and put them away immediately. This practice eliminates the concern that the bushings will get mixed up.

I replace the bushings with the generic non-stick plastic ones for sanding and finishing.

(CAUTION: There are several reasons why I prefer to use the non-stick plastic bushings for sanding. If you try it, be careful to limit your sanding to the sides of your blanks. Don't let the sandpaper curl past the ends and round them.)

 

[jrista]

I was using the tubs but recently bought a couple plastic peg board kits at Home Depot and like it much better. Looking for a bushing solution next!

View attachment 322778

That looks awesome! I may have to get something like that going. I have pegboard everywhere, but its full of tools and stuff...I may have to try and clear some of it for this, though.

Regarding bushings...its a little pricey, but, I now have four of these puppies:

Bushing Buddy Organizer

We know organizing your pen kit bushings can be difficult. When we lose, misplace, mix-up or need to search for our bushings, we end up frustrated and angry that we've delayed our pen making project. Our new Bushing Buddy® System solves these problems and keeps all your pen kit bushings visible,

www.pennstateind.com

I actually have these mounted to pegboard as well. I used zip ties to bind them to the board. I'm just creating rows of them as I need more room for more bushings. Its handy being able to easily pick out a set of bushings just by pulling out the little red holder.

 

[penicillin]

See my post #16 (two posts above). For some reason, I forgot to include the photo, and editing is no longer available. Here is my bushing storage. Nothing to write home about:

 

[David350]

I made an initial investment in Sterilite containers (6 quart from Amazon in 12 packs) that I feel has worked well for me as I have expanded it as I now have way more kits and blanks than sense. I also purchased the 5 shelf Trinity racks on wheels (Costco - usually on sale in Jan as part of post holiday organization items that go on sale) that holds 48, per rack, of these containers as well as several of the larger Sterilite containers for larger bottle stopper blanks, and various other accessories for this hobby.

As you can see from the pictures, each 6 quart container can hold dozens of pens and 60 or so pen blanks. I use zip lock bags for the various plating options for each kit to keep them organized. Each kit has a 6 quart container which contains the pen kits, bushings, and required drill bit(s). I just use a sharpie to label the containers as it is easy to wipe off with DNA to relabel them.

I know I could economize on bits and bushings by not having duplicates as some kits obviously use the same, but for me, I wanted to keep it simple and help eliminate the possibility of using the wrong bit or bushing on a kit. I just moved so I do not have them alphabetized, but I will get to that soon. I may steal Dave's "Dot System" to classify pen types as I think that would make it easier to home in on a particular pen type like rollerball, etc. Hope this adds to the possibilities, it is so interesting to see the different ways people go about this...

 

[mmayo]

Whoa to all with such elegant solutions. I have plastic shoe tubs for each kind of pen I turn. Usually the kits and a bag with bushings are stored inside. I have a bag with spare parts inside too. With Saturn/ Streamline pens and diamond knurl ballpoints the kits are stored in a tub separately since I have lots of each. In side shop I have a tub with the bushings and blanks etc.

I am impressed with your storage solutions.

 

[Fine Engineer]

Here's a link to what I think is a great bushing organizing system. This is pretty inexpensive, and really secure.

 

[Madman1978]

Here's a link to what I think is a great bushing organizing system. This is pretty inexpensive, and really secure.

WAY too much $$ and work really.

For my Bushings, I bought the Pill bottles on Amazon. For the Kits, I am presently using a 3 rox box I got at Aldi's that was for dog food! lol

 

[skipseke]

I was using the tubs but recently bought a couple plastic peg board kits at Home Depot and like it much better. Looking for a bushing solution next!

View attachment 322778

Harbor Freight has a line of different size clear top divided containers I think would work.The divers are removable as to make them different sizes.Thinking about look in into them my self. Worth at least a look and prices should be too bad. Only down side is they tend to break if dropped . Got to remember they are from HF.

 

[Fine Engineer]

So I found this on Amazon, and thought I'd give it a try.
30 Packs Plastic Stackable Organizer Container with Lids, Mini Containers for Beads, Glitter, Slime, Paint or Seed Storage - Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XQF63QZ/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_ZACJKWJ8G1WHHZQSAAK4

Everything fits so far, and this is a very compact storage system.

 

[Jim Smith]

Greetings from Nebraska! I really like Jim's Keurig solution for bushings, pretty cool! - I store my kits in little plastic drawer storage units and the overflow in small plastic containers on a shelf. Right now my bushings are in little plastic jars in plastic boxes that hold 12 jars each. I have my kits and bushings color coded according to a general pen type and then tied back into a 3-ring binder that holds all of my instruction sheets and notes about each type. I store my frequently used wood blanks in 5x8 bags hanging from hooks under a shelf. The blank overflow is in 6-quart plastic totes stacked on the shelf above them. I keep my plastic blanks on a shelf under my kits. Here are some pictures - Dave

Beautiful set up. There's nothing like having an organized shop to make turning more enjoyable. I keep all the pen instructions in a flip file holder that I found at my local Goodwill. It holds instructions for 50 different kits. I only use it when I make a new kit or a make a kit that I haven't made in a while.

 

[egnald]

Beautiful set up. There's nothing like having an organized shop to make turning more enjoyable. I keep all the pen instructions in a flip file holder that I found at my local Goodwill. It holds instructions for 50 different kits. I only use it when I make a new kit or a make a kit that I haven't made in a while.

Thanks for the compliment. I have made it a practice to open my binder up to the instructions on almost every pen. I have written additional notes on many of them just so I don't make the same mistakes again. I think I must be getting more forgetful the older I get. - Dave

 

[wolf creek knives]

I store my pen kits in a similar fashion. I can keep multiple kits in each box and separate them by putting like kits in Ziplock bags and labeling each bag. I also use masking tape on each box end to identify what is in each box.
The picture shows how I store my blanks.

 

[Woodchipper]

I've got pen kits everywhere. In the boxes they were shipped in, various plastic containers, and even toolboxes. No organization, no rhyme or reason, just like my life.

And if someoe organized them, you couldn't find anything. I had three restaurant bus tubs that I kept car stuff, fishing stuff, etc. My wife got ambitious, bought a bunch of storge boxes at Big Lots and sorted all the stuff out. She labeled the boxes. Now I have to look through two or three boxes instead of one bus tub. Or try to determine how she categorized some things.