Storage and Sorting LEGO

[ShaydDeGrai]

I admit I don't dust very often but...

It might not be worth buying one only for that reason, but since i already own a airbrush gun + compressor i use that for dusting, and its really effective. The powerful and concentrated air jet blows away the dust really good, and you can also easily clean the parts that are hard to reach.

And no fear of soaking some parts up with the hoover ;)

A cheaper alternative to this, if you don't actually need an airbrush that could potentially be used _as_ an airbrush to deliver paint, is just to get a can of compressed air at a photographic supply store (or probably Amazon these days) Same basic principle, blast off the dust without building up (as much of) a static charge that will just draw the dust back (like a hair dryer would) using air under pressure going through a tiny nozzle.

A camera store near my house sells it for about 4USD a can (about the same size and packaging as WD40, a push top aerosol can with a long straw nozzle for getting into tight spots) your milage my vary.

[Redhead1982]

I spent my holidays sorting, and as I published some pictures on Flickr, I was asked about my process for sorting through a sorting bin. To share with others who might be interesting, I usually start by turning the sorting bin upside down and having all bricks in front of me on the table (if the desk is too small to fit all the bricks, this can be done in several steps).

In general, I seek the largest and more abundant bricks in the pile. The order of removing specific types of bricks depends on storage - by colour/size/type.

1 - From starting pile of bricks removing the largest parts - plates in reddish brown and dark tan (wider than 2 studs) and green plant leaves;

2 - continuing with greenery - removing stems and bamboo leaves;

3 - next abundant pieces are slopes in all four greys;

4 - all classic bricks and 2 stud-wide lightbluish grey plates;

5 - continuing with black bricks;

6 - and greens - plates and tiles.

7- Next are reddish brown plates and tiles (longer than 2 studs) and old greys (all types);

8 - continuing with 1x2 plates in all colours;

9 - a smaller pile of the smallest bricks is left

10 - handpicking leftover medium sized bricks and sorting them by groups on one side, and the smallest ones (cheese slopes, 1x1 rounds and tiles (1x2 and 1x1)) on the other

11 - a triplet of 1x1 rounds, tiles and cheese;

12 - final - the smallest bricks sorted by type and colour.

[Leela]

Sorting... on one hand I hate doing it, but once I start it's so soothing

I use air matress pump to dust the sets I displayed for too long and it really works for me.

[Mr_Malfoy]

I'm currently sorting my LEGO now into Ziploc Bags. I don't dust my sets on display, but that must be a good idea.

[Kelso]

Im currently sorting out all my lego by color (only have about 2 boxes orso).

So I think i'm going to buy some small plastic boxes. so that I can stack them up in the drawer under my bed. (very limited space here).

Edited January 15, 2013 by Kelso

[Vindicare]

Im currently sorting out all my lego by color (only have about 2 boxes orso).

So I think i'm going to buy some small plastic boxes. so that I can stack them up in the drawer under my bed. (very limited space here).

Look into "Really Useful Boxes". They're a bit pricey, but they have so many different sizes and they stack. The lids are very secure.

[Kelso]

Just got back home and bought myself 10 plastic 5 liter boxes. easy to stack aswell. :)

[Tacker]

Ok now ive got all my lego sorted and in to tubs. Do any one cataloge what pices thay have. And check new parts from new models.

[tomdobs55]

Ok now ive got all my lego sorted and in to tubs. Do any one cataloge what pices thay have. And check new parts from new models.

I have a spreadsheet with all my parts cataloged and its a work in progress. So far I have it sorted by color and I have categories for plates, slopes, bricks, and tiles.

[Andy D]

I have a spreadsheet with all my parts cataloged and its a work in progress. So far I have it sorted by color and I have categories for plates, slopes, bricks, and tiles.

Wow! This is really ambitious! I don't even have my sets listed on Brickset, too much work. I am just trying to get my inventory organized in such a way that I can find pieces without too much searching. But I do realize tht we all have different things we are willing to or want to do in respect to our mutual hobby of LEGO.

Andy D

[TheLegoDr]

Actually Brickset isn't that much work. You go through and click a box. You don't have to enter any information. And once you get it started it is really easy to maintain. The hardest part for me is remembering my log-in information!

[BrickG]

I'm currently going insane organizing some Yard Sale lego I haven't messed with because I didn't want to. I spend probably 5x more time organizing than I do building... and then when I build I experiment a lot which deorganizes huge amounts (as I take pieces and decide they're no good for the build, then throw them back haphazardly since I'm building). Then I've got to organize again.

I do not like!

[Andy D]

Actually Brickset isn't that much work. You go through and click a box. You don't have to enter any information. And once you get it started it is really easy to maintain. The hardest part for me is remembering my log-in information!

OK, OK I did it!

Andy D

[Sid Sidious]

I recently bought this from Amazon. It has four 3-drawer units in it. Although the drawers can't be removed as shipped, they can be fairly easily modified with a knife. (Protip: Kevlar gloves are going to save your hands. They're a bit awkward to cut.)

Edited January 17, 2013 by Sid Sidious

[joeshmoe554]

I finally sorted all of my lego pieces just after Christmas this year. I was storing all of my character pieces (heads, bodies, accesories, etc.) in a freestyle bin, and all of my other legos were in 2 large tupperware bins. I went to the store and bought a set of sandwich and snack size ziplock bags then sorted the bricks by color and type into those. Those bags were then placed in gallon sized ziplocs sorted by color and placed back into the bins they started in. It was cheap and took the same amount of space after, but it is much easier to build things now, since I can actually find the pieces I'm looking for.

[Zeya]

I recently bought this from Amazon. It has four 3-drawer units in it. Although the drawers can't be removed as shipped, they can be fairly easily modified with a knife. (Protip: Kevlar gloves are going to save your hands. They're a bit awkward to cut.)

I have that exact some one. You can take the drawers out! You sort of pull the drawer until it hits the stoppers and then on the right and left side of the drawer you squeeze just a little toward the middle of the drawer and it slips right out.

Unless they changed the design or something... I got mine at Walmart, but same brand and looks just like it.

[Takanuinuva]

This is how I have my lego sorted. I used drawers

Large drawers

Lego Bricks

Bionicle armor,torsos, and stuff

Medium Drawers

Lego Plates

Bionicle Heads

Bionicle Weapons

Bionicle Launchers

Bionicle Ball joints

Miscelanious (large baseplates, Xpod containers Large pieces)

Bionicle Socket joints

Hero Factory bones, Torso, and feet

Hero Factory Armor and Armor add on

Hero Factory Heads, Helmets, Hands, Weapons and Launchers

Small drawers

Technic connectors

Technic beams

Wheels of all kinds

Gears and bushings

Pins

Axles

Minifigures and accessories

Doors windows and vehicle parts

Kinghts kingdom joints and ball connector bricks and ball socket bricks

Very small

Projectiles (Zamor, Kanoka, Cordak etc.

Flex tubing and rubber bands.

Its a very good system I use. I can find parts easier. Though searching for parts in my bricks and plate drawers is still a bit tricky.

[tomdobs55]

Wow! This is really ambitious! I don't even have my sets listed on Brickset, too much work. I am just trying to get my inventory organized in such a way that I can find pieces without too much searching. But I do realize tht we all have different things we are willing to or want to do in respect to our mutual hobby of LEGO.

Andy D

Yeah it's pretty ambitious, I've finished all the basic stuff (bricks, slopes, tiles, plates) just recently and I came to roughly 13000 parts. I'm moving to wedges, printed pieces and translucents next. The crazy parts is going to be the minifig accessories and whatnot. I'll try and post a screenshot of my sheet soon.

[Zeenohs]

I've been slowly organising since about Christmas. I started going by colour, but realised it wasn't too helpful as sifting through colour bins seems incredibly difficult. So, at the moment I've sorted my bricks by categories similar to how LDD does it, making extra categories for pieces I have a lot of, or tend to utilise more. I'm using a mixture of zip-lock bags and plastic drawers at the moment, but I need to invest in bigger drawers as I amass greater quantities of Lego.

[Andy D]

I've been slowly organising since about Christmas. I started going by colour, but realised it wasn't too helpful as sifting through colour bins seems incredibly difficult. So, at the moment I've sorted my bricks by categories similar to how LDD does it, making extra categories for pieces I have a lot of, or tend to utilise more. I'm using a mixture of zip-lock bags and plastic drawers at the moment, but I need to invest in bigger drawers as I amass greater quantities of Lego.

I have been playing with and at organizing off and on for 6-9 months. I finally came to the conclusion that organizing by type/function then by color, if there are lots of pieces of one color they get their own tub. This seems to work best for me for now. For storage I am trying a combination of Gadware entree size tubs (in bulk from Amazon for about 80 cents per tub), large and small plastic freezer bags and large plastic bins (to store the bagged pieces).

Andy D

[Vindicare]

Yeah it's pretty ambitious, I've finished all the basic stuff (bricks, slopes, tiles, plates) just recently and I came to roughly 13000 parts. I'm moving to wedges, printed pieces and translucents next. The crazy parts is going to be the minifig accessories and whatnot. I'll try and post a screenshot of my sheet soon.

I'd like to know how you're going to sort printed pieces. Whenever I look at drawers and such for sorting, printed pieces always throws me for a loop and stops me. Theres so many printed pieces that are set specific, that it makes it hard to sort.

[RaincloudDustbin]

Mine is stored, on the floor n every room in the house.;)

[happymark]

I put printed bricks together.

same for printed slope pieces.

for 'special pieces' (like corkpit etc). I do not seperate them from regular.

I'd like to know how you're going to sort printed pieces. Whenever I look at drawers and such for sorting, printed pieces always throws me for a loop and stops me. Theres so many printed pieces that are set specific, that it makes it hard to sort.

[Follows Closely]

I recently bought this from Amazon. It has four 3-drawer units in it. Although the drawers can't be removed as shipped, they can be fairly easily modified with a knife. (Protip: Kevlar gloves are going to save your hands. They're a bit awkward to cut.)

Same ones I use, they are great. And like Zeya said, they come out just fine.

[Sid Sidious]

Same ones I use, they are great. And like Zeya said, they come out just fine.

They come out fine, but you have to twist them sideways, so if there are a lot of pieces they fall into the lower drawers. It's also awkward to get them back in without twisting them all over.