Screw/Bolt Storage

[Stwood_]

How about baby food jars? Short and tall.
An old friend had shelves in his shop, with 1200+ jars.

Baby food jars.....I haven't used those for 30 years.
  I used to screw the lid to a board then hang the board.

Are those glass jars still available? Gerber was a popular brand

[Cian]

Baby food jars.....I haven't used those for 30 years.
  I used to screw the lid to a board then hang the board.

Are those glass jars still available? Gerber was a popular brand

Mason jars are fairly inexpensive as well in bulk, if you dont have baby food jars handy.

[Stwood_]

Mason jars are fairly inexpensive as well in bulk, if you dont have baby food jars handy.

I use my mason jars. I have a thousand or so.

[Timberwolf]

I use my mason jars. I have a thousand or so.

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Get 'em at Aldies....pint size is 8 bucks/doz.

[Splinter Puller]

Mine is a combination of plastic bins and plastic peanut butter jars.  Works great and is simple.

[MarkSingleton]

The problem with glass jars is breakage. About the second or third time I had to
clean up a mess of glass and hardware/fasteners I was over it.
Switched to plastic jars. Never been much of a fan of plastic, but this is one area
that it makes sense. Recycling jars you already have/use works great.
Amazing how quickly they pile up when you start saving them.

[AHill]

I use a combination of Festool Systainer organizers (drawers) and industrial metal pull out drawers.  A few things I've learned about storing fasteners:

Bigger is better than smaller - especially for commonly used fasteners.  Tackle (lure) boxes and small plastic divided containers just don't cut it with me.
Removable dividers almost always results in mixed fasteners.
Organize by size and it makes finding the right fastener easier.
Mark the size on the container.
Removable bins or containers make the project go quicker.  Bring the container to the work one time instead of going back and forth for more fasteners.
Keep a bolt/thread sizer handy.
Keep a set of screw extractors handy.
Dedicate one bin or container for extra bits.  (Robertson, Phillips, Torx, Straight)  That way, you'll always have a bit available.  Bits are cheap.
Quality fasteners don't break, bend, or strip out as often as cheap ones.
Keep a mix of imperial and metric sizes.
Keep a chart of drill bit sizes for each fastener handy.

[Stwood_]

........................
Get 'em at Aldies....pint size is 8 bucks/doz.
 

Caught a Wally's sale a couple weeks ago and got Ball WM pints for $6.00 per case, Dad.
Free shipping.
 

Yes I spotted those in Aldi's last week. Wife pushed me and the cart on forward so I couldn't grab some.

[Bill Wilson]

All I can say is; Man, you guys are waaaay organized with your hardware!   Kudos to you! 


Mine is in a motley collection of coffee cans, plastic bins, butter tubs, peanut butter jars, divided containers and most anything else that will hold stuff.  I too save hardware from discarded items.  I typically toss it in an old butter tub, with the intention of sorting it later.  Almost never works out that way.  I've got random containers of miscellaneous hardware all over my shop.  I think about cleaning it up and organizing it better, but I'm afraid that halfway through, I'll get tired and frustrated and just start pitching stuff.  And I can't do that.  My Dad was a genuine hardware hoarder.  He would come back to haunt me if I threw any of my stuff away. 

[BrokenOlMarine]

I have several storage methods in my shop, and two are thanks to the Mrs.  She found these two stackable bins at a yard sale years ago.  They were mounted on the wall in the small shop, and I moved them to the new one.  They hold sorted hardware and each drawer is labeled.   When I find loose stuff I toss it in a bowl and sort it all on boring raining / snowy days, then pull the appropriate groups of drawers and line them up to sort the hardware into the drawers. (nut drawers, screw drawers, washer drawers, etc.)

   

Next up are the stackable bins.  I dropped into Woodcraft to pick up something, and Miss T saw these bins on the discount table for 75% off.  She piled them all on the counter and was waiting for me when I got back. (The red ones.)  The yellow ones she found at the Restore Store.
They hold mostly, torx and square drive screws.  The bulk stuff is in the original factory boxes or the plastic coffee cans on shelves on the other side of the shop.

   

This last thing was an accident.  When we go to the dump, we have a small wooden building labeled "Too Good to Throw Away."  I was dropping off a few things I thought others could use, and I spotted a chrome spice rack filled with all the spice jars sitting on the floor in the center of the room.  "Hmmm..." I thought, "that would be good for small hardware."  I figured I would take a look at it when I finished unloading the things I wanted to drop off.  Another car pulled up behind my truck, and the guy got out and walked in to look around.  He wasn't dropping off, just "shopping."

I paid him no mind, until I turned around and he was holding ... the spice rack.

He must have seen the look of disappointment on my face, as he asked if I had wanted it.  "You were here first."
"I was just interested in the jars... I was going to toss the rack." I laughed.  "Take it."
He started laughing.... "I planned to toss the jars, the wife has spices for years." 

He walked out to the truck, and we loaded all the jars into a box on the back seat.
We laughed again at how things work out.

   

I washed out all the jars and all the tiny brass / steel / copper nails and screws I use each got their own jar.  I have plenty left to fill.
I even used a couple for the fine sawdust I save when making boxes, and can shake it into the cracks and knots when stabilizing areas with CT glue.  Each is labeled with the content using a permanent marker.  Change the content, give 'er a shot of wd40 and wipe.  Erases the marker and remark.