Small (bagged) parts storage

One of the problems we came to realize during our Eagle's Nest build was the difficulty in finding small parts. Our initial storage system had been a little haphazard, using a combination of methods. Bins would migrate among the builders, and things became difficult to find. Also, as sub-kits were added, we might end up with two bins for the same part number. Finding an empty bin, we might think we were out, when in fact other parts were available. Clearly, our problems were more than a single builder might experience.

We put many hours (actually weeks) of work and study into this problem, and believe we have an answer. It involves five compartmented boxes (Thanks Flambeau Mfg. for your help) and a labeling system that should take us from the emp kit through avionics.

Eagle's Nest Two will be the test bed here. They will start with this system. We have decided to see if there is interest in making the system available to the general RV-12 building public. It will be around $90 (not finalized as yet) and will contain all the labels, boxes, and instructions. It would be marketed through a respected RV tool supplier.

First, does this sound like something you would purchase? And secondly, we would like one other tester out there, someone who is just starting (or will soon start) an RV-12 build. Comments and corrections would be your only cost, just like any beta tester. Let me know of your interest.

Bob Kelly
Founder, Eagle's Nest

If I were to build another airplane, I would definitely take the time to store each part in a unique labeled location and to make a spreadsheet capable of searching for part numbers and locations. Then when I want a part, I could type the part number into the computer and it would tell me which cabinet and drawer to look in. The time spent organizing the parts would have been made up many times over by spending less time searching for parts. I wasted hours and hours looking for parts.
Bob Kelly, does your system include the ability to search for parts using a computer spreadsheet? The spreadsheet could also keep track of plans page number and quantity of parts used for that step.
Another option would be to sell this parts-organizing system to Van's Aircraft. They could ship the five compartmentalized boxes already filled with parts along with the kit . The builder's job of inventorying would then be as simple as opening each drawer and counting the parts to make sure that the quantity agrees with that printed on the label.
The paper bag system of inventorying and storage leaves a lot to be desired and has caused builder frustration.
Keep up the good work, Bob.
Joe Gores

I'm not a candidate for your beta test, Bob, because I'm not building a -12. But I am finally starting my project and have been looking into this same problem as I have parts from three different kits on hand. Is your system flexible enough to cover the other RV models?

--
Stephen

Off the shelf solution..

For my build, I used an "off-the-shelf" solution instead of the little bags.

http://www.mykitlog.com/users/display_log.php?user=mikrettig&project=803&category=6821&log=128282&row=1

Clear storage bins that fit in a carry case (Stanley brand). The little yellow bins come out individually and the cases prevent travel between bins. They also come in large, deep sizes which are good for clecos and other larger parts. To mark the bins, I use a labeler, which also prints on heat shrink tube (to be used later for electrical). The lids of the cases are clear so I can see the labels without opening the cases. They are organized by part type (i.e. flush, pop, universal rivets, nuts, bolts, etc.). The cases are stackable and all the bins are interchangeable, so I could easily put together a case for a particular section of the plans, if desired.

However, it took some time to organize this way, so you might have a good idea... My $0.02.

+1 on the computer spreadsheet idea

I put the bags in a wall bin arrangement, with a cheat sheet to tell me quickly where the bag was. I did not like it.
I then later changed and sorted the pieces by type. Usually I found I was looking for a specific bolt or washer by number, that system worked far better, I wish I had done that from the beginning. Of course I was a bit different, I ordered ALL the kits at once, hence far more bags to sort thru. I just found I was spending far too much time looking for a specific bag, when what I REALLY was looking for was a specific rivet. I found this to be paticularly true with rivets, nuts, screws and washers, to keep them separate I used the clear plastic boxe with compartments..

+1 for Stanley

I use the same Stanley bins as Mike. I was getting by with three of them until my fuse kit arrived. Now I have five:

1 Rivets
2 Screws and washers
3 Nuts and nutplates
4 Bushings, bearings, and clamps
5 AN bolts and misc hardware

Being able to rearrange and reorganize parts, and to take individual bins with me to wherever I'm working, is great.

I label the bins with a Sharpie and then clean with alcohol and re-label as necessary.

Works great for me.

Thanks for the nice replies! I'll answer a question or two. First, no, it wouldn't work for another model without a lot of modification. The whole key seems to me to be specific enough to find a part number by locating the cell. To get the parts into the right cell, each cell has a bag number (or numbers) attached to it. Bag numbers vary from model to model. It would take as much work as the RV-12 system has taken. I started with an up-to-date list of bagged items from Van's.

The wall mount idea won't work for us as we put things up after every session. Things on a wall might disappear. Not all the students in the school have total respect...

Also we want to keep the cells in one location as several people may need parts. If one takes the cell, the other can't find it.

On the spreadsheet idea, this is great! I was just about to do this by hand, listing part numbers in a logical order, and cross referencing to a cell number. The spreadsheet would do that easier. THANKS!

We are using boxes that are about 12 X 18", 2 1/4" deep. One can have up to 32 cells, all equal size or double or triple size. The other has 12 or so of variable sizes. This seems to offer a lot of flexibility. We haven't figured out how the engine and avionics kits will fit into this, but will soon. Our engine will be here in a week or so.

It is nice to see there is interest here. I really believe it could save a huge amount of time during a build.

Bob

Bob
Add one more who would be interested.
John

Seems to me that parts ought to be sorted by part number and not kept in their bags. Then when the plans call out a part number, you simply go to the bins, which could be organized alphabetically, and find it. No spreadsheet needed.

And having a vendor sell a line of bins and labels is a really good idea. Of course each model and every option would need its own set, but that's what computers are for.

And if Van's packed their hardware in such bins, with labels, that would be worth some extra money for sure.

Dave

The way I see it, most parts would have their own bin (or cell.) It doesn't make sense on some, however. #3 bolts get one cell, #4 another. There are just too may lengths, and we all have measures. Same with some obvious thing like bearings, where there is no mistaking male threads for female, etc. There are things we must know while building, and no amount of organizing can prevent stupidity. I fully expect an occasional -08 nutplate to find its way onto a -3 hole, no matter how well organized we become.

This is still a lot of work. Computers help, but it is difficult to figure how big the cell needs to be for 225 K-1000-08 nutplates. That is why I need a beta tester. EN-II builders (the Patriot Academy) will probably catch any errors, but I have made some pretty creative ones in the past...

Bob

I copied Mike too

ppilotmike said:

For my build, I used an "off-the-shelf" solution instead of the little bags.

http://www.mykitlog.com/users/display_log.php?user=mikrettig&project=803&category=6821&log=128282&row=1

Clear storage bins that fit in a carry case (Stanley brand).

Click to expand...

I copied after Mike was nice enough to spend a couple hours on a snowy night to show me his his project and tools. I was too cheap to by Stanley boxes - I went to Harbor Freight and bought 3 boxes for about $6.00 each, then bought a Brother Label maker and went to town.

I like the plastic bags that rivets and bolts were in. I did not like the paper bags. I am still having trouble knowing what rivet is which one just by the numbers. The screwiest thing is you use a #40 bit for the 3 rivets and a #30 for the 4 rivets. As for the #30 and #40 bits - try going to Home Depot and asking them for one of those. They get that blank stare on their face and hand you a case of a bunch of bits, none are #30 or #40. What that means is another order to the tool supply companies and more delivery charges!

When we started our RV7 6 years ago, we kept all the brown bags, labelled, with descriptions on the outside.

That lasted a couple of years, then I spent an afternoon, separating all standard parts, allocating slide out parts bins for each - where we had too many, I had a separate set of drawers for duplicated parts. All model specific parts, bushes etc went into labelled bins. The bins run by part/fastener type and size. I needed around 6 small bin sets qith 12 drawers each - got them from Home Despot when on a trip.

Now the 7 is flying, I have started an 8.

Once the kit arrived, everything was binned and again, model specific parts put into separate bins.

I still have 2 bags labelled - miscellaneous ! I presume at some point I will have a eureka moment and figure out what its for

As previous posters have said, it makes things a lot easier because you simply look at the nut, bolt, rivet call out on the plan and go directly to the drawer.

The wall mount idea won't work for us as we put things up after every session. Things on a wall might disappear. Not all the students in the school have total respect...

Bob[/QUOTE]

But since working at the airport requres less cleanup, wall mounts may be a good idea. Sure, you couldnt move the bins to the workspaces, but they would stay put

I bought the Harbor Freight boxes and I really like them. They are super cheap if you get them on sale. I think around $5 is what I paid for them. I like that you can take the little bins out and close the main container. I just use a marker and write on the side of each bin the part number. Some of the bins I wrote the bag number on the side just to be more organized. As I have continued from the Empennage to the Wings I purchased a couple more boxes and with the bins you can re-organize as you add more boxes. I now have 5 boxes. A few for different types of rivets, one for hardware, one has fittings and cable clamps. It is very easy for me to find any of these small items quickly. I first find the right box, then I find the part that I think I want, then I check the part number that is written on the bin. Easy. A label maker might make it look a little nicer, but it won't make it any more efficient.

This is how it has turned out. I have finished the RV-12 storage system through the finish kit. It is a matter of putting about 330 part numbers from 136 bags into 96 containers--and being able to find them easily. I ended up with labels with the location number (box, row and cell in the row), brief description, (Flush rivet, etc.), all the part numbers contained in that cell, and the bag numbers placed in the cell.

There are two printed lists, one by bag number, giving where to place it's contents (some must be sorted, but not many) and another list by part number and where to find it. Even using a spreadsheet, this was a LOT of work. Some cells have to be larger than others, and we selected boxes with movable dividers. There are drawings on how to divide the boxes. We will be testing this beginning within a couple of weeks. The Patriot Academy has ordered the first three kits, so we will know quite a bit soon. I expect there will be a few corrections.

The boxes are made in the U.S.A., are good quality, and cost less that those from HF. This is going to be very cost effective! I expect someone to ask if the labels would work on their boxes. I doubt it, unless the boxes were the same configuration and size. No, it won't work with an RV-X, unless X=12. When we are happy with the way this works, it will probably be available from Avery. I do expect to add the engine kit and avionics kit soon.

Bob

We also took a mixed approach

After inventory I took a whole stack of partitioned parts boxes and allocated "stock" parts to them. Things like rivets, nut plates, bolts, washers, nuts etc. I label everything and its easy to find. We left the specialized parts in the numbered paper bags. When I need a specialized piece, a quick look at the the inventory list helps us find it. Clearly a list of parts by name with the associated bag would be of help, but the manual scan method seems to work pretty well.

rockwoodrv9 said:

...try going to Home Depot and asking them for one of those. They get that blank stare on their face and hand you a case of a bunch of bits, none are #30 or #40. What that means is another order to the tool supply companies and more delivery charges!

Click to expand...

Wire gauge sized drill bits can be found in some Ace Hardware stores. I have looked and never found them in a Lowes or Home Depot.

I use a label printer and the multi-drawer plastic organizers from Harbor Freight.