Subject:
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Re: Brick Sorting
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Fri, 3 Jan 2003 08:04:24 GMT
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Viewed:
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586 times
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Hi there!
When I first came out of the black cave and picked up this amazing hobby once
more my collection was in the 10K size and I realized I needed sorting.
I bought a few boxes used to sort screw, nuts and bolts in garages, mounted
them on a plywood frame for easy "storing away" when I was not building. Along
with this I took a couple of tackle boxes I had. All did not fit so I looked
for cheap bins (my money goes to bricks, not sorting systems) and found two
great sources;
Empty 2 litre ice-cream tubs, these stack nicely _into_ each other so that 1/4
full tubs don't use 3/4 space just for air.
Here in Sweden we can buy candy by the pound choosing from long raws of
different candy boxes. I'm sure this is common in other countries too. The
thing is, this candy is shipped to the store in aprox 3-4 litre square boxes
with lids. Stores in Sweden often set these empty bins out in the entrance for
people to take home for free to store cookies etc. in. Perfect. I grabbed a
few, washed them out and I was set. Again, these stack nicely _into_ each other
so you wont need space for storing air.
Today my collection has grown about 450% to ~45K bricks and the system is still
with me, just more bins. I won't switch to another system either since this
works splendid for me.
As the bins got "full" containing different parts and not easy to rummage
through I've been splitting them up into two bins with perhaps one type of
part. If the small nuts & bolt bins get full with on pice sort I promote them
to a 2L ice-cream box. If an ice-cream box get full I switch it into a candy
bin.
I've also added eight tackle boxes for small bit's and pieces.
Anything that don't fit and I have "enough" of at hand I store it away in
zip-lock bags in the Overflow-bin.
Here's a couple of pictures:
http://www.lotek.nu/SweLUG/images/DCP_4998.jpg
http://www.lotek.nu/SweLUG/images/DCP_4999.jpg
Note, those were taken during a LEGO gathering I held and not how I actually
use them at home but they still show them. (I need to document this).
In the photos you see the original garage bins as red (large),green (medium)
and dark blue (small). The tackle boxes is red, ice-cream boxes light blue (or
white) and the candy bins see-through white.
I just stack up the bins with basic bricks in one stack, plates in another,
Technic bricks in a third ans so forth. I recently grabbed a few lids to put on
top of these stacks to keep the dust out. The ice-cream bins are used in the
same manner.
This sorting system has cost me:
Garage sorting trays/bins aprox $6 x 3 = 18
Tackle boxes $4 x 8 = 32
Ice-cream boxes $0 (I ate the ice-cream) x 15-20 = 0
Candy bins $0 x a lot = 0
Sum: $50
If your candy store don't have these visibly ask if you could have them, since
they through them away you should get them for free or perhaps 10 for a dollar.
To this date I've been sorting by part type but I'm on the verge of also
splitting by color. 1 x 16 Technic beams have been split into black and other
and I'm sure more part types will follow as my collection keeps growing.
Hope this makes sence and helps add more brick into the sorting system instead
of spending $$ on sorting systems...
A quick note to help you sort; When I take models apart I put all pieces into a
big box. As the box get's full or I feel like meditation (it's like that for
me) I start splitting the big box into plates, bricks, technic bricks (I build
in this genre), technic special parts and other. I then lay out all the plate
bins and sort the plates moving over to bricks...
I added labels on all four sides of the bins to help me fins parts when
building and keep the stacks in size order e.g. for plates 1 x 10 in the
bottom, followed by 1 x 8 and so forth.
I also keep a few empty candy boxes for misc. projects and the sorting process.
This also makes it easy splitting the collection up when I get the urge.
Best regards,
/Tobbe
http://www.lotek.nu
(remove SPAM when e-mailing)
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Brick Sorting
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| (...) You're lucky to have ice cream available in plastic tubs. In the US, ice cream comes in waxed cardboard or paper containers. --Bill. (21 years ago, 5-Jan-03, to lugnet.general)
| | | Re: Brick Sorting
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| (...) Thanks for that idea! Never thought of skipping the lids to avoid storing air. /Tore Where I live, we have to pay SEK 10 (~US$1.10) for three candy boxes :( but they're worth it! :) (21 years ago, 9-Jan-03, to lugnet.general)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Brick Sorting
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| Being the New Year and all, I made but one resolution that I truly want to carry out: sorting my Lego collection. Scanning through Brickshelf, I've noticed a lot of pictures with an array of sorting bins, containers, boxes, etc. My question to the (...) (21 years ago, 1-Jan-03, to lugnet.general)
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