What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Dumb question...

Palamedes

Well Known Member
I am going though the inventory of my emp and am wondering if I should keep them organized in subkits or if it makes more sense to order them / lay them out by part number for easier location.

Thoughts?
 
Subkits

I kept mine in subkits. That way, when I needed to find a (small) part that I couldn't obviously pick, I looked through the paperwork to find out which subkit the part was in. After that it was easy enough to look through the subkit to find the part.
 
In the end, whatever works best for you. By the time I was working on my wings, I had a set of bins for my rivets, another for bolts, another for washers and cotter pitns, another for nuts and platenuts, etc. That way there was no search through subkit bags for a couple of -5 rivets...nope, just look in the proper bin. Bigger parts, just put them on shelves.
 
I organized the bolts nuts, rivets, etc into bins. I keep the sheet aluminum, spars, brackets, weights, etc together as part of the sub-kits.

When I need to find something, I reference the inventory list, figure out which sub-kit it's in and get it. Takes no time at all.

I'm not far ahead of you. Should be wrapping up the Horizontal Stabilizer here in the next week or so...
 
Part number, a clear choice. Label the bins so that you know that when the plans calls for such or such a part number, that you can find it. No look-up, and you know right where it all is.

Dave
 
Parts bins

I would definately take all the parts bags and sort them by type and size for all the nuts,bolts,washers, rivets etc. I then put all the parts in numerical order on shelves and labeled the shelves. I could go straight to the 2000 shelf and then quickly find the exact part.

Glad to hear your kit arrived. Get all your tools yet?
 
Okay thank you very much everybody I think I know how I'm going to handle it, I very much appreciate the advice.

Bill, yep everything is here and ready to go!
 
I left all the parts in their respective bags. I put the bags in bins and labeled the bin with the bag number. I obtained a digital file from Vans of the inventory list. I copied that into Microsoft Word. I did that for all the kits into one document.

When I needed a part, I did a search ("ctrl F") for the part number. It took me to the correct bin.

I did not do this for the bulk items such as the rivets. I also purchased several hardware kits so I would have extra nuts, bolts, screws, etc. I also purchased hardware store none-locking nuts for doing the test assembly so as not to use up the locking capability of the nylock nuts.
 
Bags & Boxes

I kept everything in the bags. I titled most bags by assembly "fuel tank; aileron" ect.. and listed contents of each bag on the bag by part number with a sharpie. Each bolt gets it's dash number written on the head with a sharpie. I keep them in a cardboard boxes. Rivets in one box, everything else in another. Doing this while doing inventory saves time, it's cheap, and it works. When the bag is empty, just toss it. No need for storage space when the project is done.
 
Back
Top