Strip wood/plastic storage question

```````` Oh. Well, in that case use old paper towel and toilet paper cardboard tubes.

"Paul - The CB&Q Guy" (Modeling 1960's In HO.)

The Seabat posted:

Try looking in a craft store. You should be able to get clear, lidded, plastic storage containers with compartments that size built in. There's various applications but ones for beads might work as they have a lot of compartments per container. Keeps the dust out and you can see what you've got without openning it up.

Some stores will put flyers or ads in the local newspapers every two weeks or so with 'so much off any non-sale item' coupons. Michael's for example usually has 40% off. I use these a lot. We may be distant relatives. :)

Good luck!

~Brad H.

The Seabat spake thus:

I've got a lot of that stuff, both styrene and wood strips and structural shapes, and it's still in the box I've been using for, oh, more than ten years. I found a box that's the perfect shape and size, for one of those articulated desk lights. (Tall box that I keep upright.) Just keep the strips (including short scraps) in their original plastic sleeves and all is well.

Why not just use some inexpensive PVC pipe from your local home building store? You could get 1/2 inch, 3/4 inch and maybe even some 1 inch stuff. Glue the tubes together then find a suitable piece of something for the bottom.

I think that plastic pipe is only a couple of dollars per 8 foot piece. That piece should easily make 12 8" tubes.

dlm

Yeah, but . . . Dave Rutan's approach means you don't have to dump the whole rack upside down to get to the small pieces - and also is cheap.

I also store my flat styrene sheets in a cereal box. When the sheets get too small to hold themselves up, I cut a piece of card board and slide it in the sleeve.

Dave

Steve Caple wrote:

I have a peg board with hooks and hang the bags of strip wood and plastic just like in the store. I cut a small slit at the top of the bag and remove a piece when needed and return smaller cut pieces to the bag. Easy and cheap to do. It keeps things organized and easy to find. I can also see very quickly what I'm running low on or what I have run out off. Longer pieces are bundled according to size and kept in an old map case tube. The small cut offs from them are either put in a jar or put in one of the hanging bags that has strips of the same dimensions. Sheet materials and some commonly used longer strips are are just propped up at one end of the workbench. Bruce

I have two really tall plastic beer mugs that are from some bar&grill that I picked up somewhere. They were 'Free" with the purchase of a pitcher of beer. Of course, they have the bar's logo on them, but the night was fun and they are useful still. I have one with brass and the other with styrene rod, tube, strips, angle,etc. It keeps them handy and easy to pick through to find what I am looking for. Shorter pieces go into a covered container on my fab table near my "Chopper" and "True Sander" The mugs are 8 1/2 inches deep. I keep all of my flat sheet stock in "cheap" lided craft containers. Keeps the sheets free of dirt and paint dust. Long pieces of wood I store in a discarded display from a hardware store. I keep an eye and a relationship with the manager responsible for ordering the wood. He let me know that they were installing a new rack, gave me the old one...no charge. I also got the old K&S display racks recently too!