Hi guys,

I've got a question: if you're a SYSTEM dude, then how do you store your technic parts?

Let's get the ball rolling again!

I store my elements in labelled drawers. I should get some better ones to make it easier to find a particular element!

Hi guys,

I've got a question: if you're a SYSTEM dude, then how do you store your technic parts?

Let's get the ball rolling again!

I'm pretty much a 'system' guy and as such, I don't have TONS of Technic parts, so using a multi-drawer storage unit works for the small elements (pins, etc) and for the beams, I just use a massive plastic peanut butter jar.

Hi guys,

I've got a question: if you're a SYSTEM dude, then how do you store your technic parts?

Let's get the ball rolling again!

I don't have a whole lot of Technic that isn't associated with a set, so I keep Bricks and Liftarms in one drawer, and everything else (mostly pins and axles) in another.

I'm just lazy, call me worse, but personally, I just put sets or bags of random parts in plastic totes and stack them and when i need something form one of them (i have some locations memorized) I can just shuffle through it and find what I'm looking for

Hi guys,

I've got a question: if you're a SYSTEM dude, then how do you store your technic parts?

Let's get the ball rolling again!

I store my technic parts the same way I store my system parts. I'm the crazy guy who sorts by individual part and color. When I have only a few elements of different colors I put them together in the same bag. The only problem with my current storage system is space and therefore I have all of my technic in one big bin but sorted by piece and color in plastic baggies rather than how I have my system stuff which takes up the majority of my LEGO room because of their storage bins.

I'm in the process of sorting all my bricks out so at the moment they are all just going into plastic ice cream containers and dog food containers by color. Once I get that sorted I'll go through each color and separate them further.

I'm just about to move all my lego from my loft into my bedroom. in the loft it's in those plastic drawer units sorted by brick type. Not having much technic stuff that's in one drawer, then basic bricks are sorted into stud width so one big drawer for two wide, another for one wide. plates are sorted similarly.

As i'm a city fan minifigs are sorted by profession in click seal plastic bags and utensils/weapons in separate ones. foliage has a drawer and then there's a drawer each for windows, doors, fences and barred pieces, vehicular parts and round pieces.

it's an annoying system. I can still never find what I'm looking for. Once the whole lot is in my bedroom I'll start over and break it down further labelling each drawer with a large picture of content type and a list of contents. Instruction booklets will be catalogued into big ring binders which will free up one of the larger drawers. And I'll free up space by having all vehicles on display rather than parted out.

that's the plan. Of course my bedroom is the size of a postage stamp so we'll see how it works out...

UPDATE:

As I'm moving the drawer units down I'm sorting through them click-lock bagging stuff. My technic pieces drawer is a nightmare. I didn't realise I had so many axles and pins. In fact I'm discovering tons of stuff I didn't know I had. It's like christmas over and over again. So far I've managed two drawer units and I'm a third of the way through the stuff I'd previously divided up. still got loads more drawers, boxes and bags of stuff to sift through. It's going to be a good while before I can even think about building anything.

Edited January 4, 201114 yr by Brickenhead-town-dweller

I have 2 Questions:

1) To those with the Akro-Mills or StackOn drawer cabinets: Do they actually stack well? Is there grooves to make them fit and lock on top of each other, or is it just smooth tops and bottoms, or even unstable?

2) Has anyone found a tackle box or some form of hard see-through storage that perfectly fits minifigs with a few accessories, specifically for the collectible minifigs? I want something with similar fitting to what "willy_poodle" posted on page 12, but that's in the UK, plus it seems like it's for a drawer set. I prefer a top down view method, more like a box.

Thanks.

Edited January 2, 201114 yr by BRIANbuilds

Hello, monster thread!

I'm about 3 months into this new hobby of mine, and the shelves are starting to get full. Time to think about breaking down some built sets and storing them away, particularly my winter toy shop and bakery. I finally got over my mental stumbling block where I didn't want to throw boxes away. (I even kept the empty clear brick bags you cut open! Why!?)

I've decided to go with the Akro-Mils cabinets. The 44-drawer one in particular looks like a nice start:

I think I'll just get one to start with since it has a mix of big and small drawers. If anyone is interested, here is a nice link to see their product page. And here is a link to a pdf file with some stats; see page 2 with the measurements. Looks like most of them have the same width so that you can stack them, with the exception of the 16-drawer one, which is probably not what most people want anyway.

Am I strange for being a little excited about storing Lego?

1) To those with the Akro-Mills or StackOn drawer cabinets: Do they actually stack well? Is there grooves to make them fit and lock on top of each other, or is it just smooth tops and bottoms, or even unstable?

2) Has anyone found a tackle box or some form of hard see-through storage that perfectly fits minifigs with a few accessories, specifically for the collectible minifigs? I want something with similar fitting to what "willy_poodle" posted on page 12, but that's in the UK, plus it seems like it's for a drawer set. I prefer a top down view method, more like a box.

I'll try and answer these after I get my 44-drawer Akro-Mils cabinet. But from what I've read, they do in fact stack and have grooves for that, but I don't know if they lock together like giant Lego bricks.

#2 is a good question. I see a bunch of the clear plastic trays with cubbys and a lid at the bead and craft area of craft stores. If you're in the USA, try Michaels and on the left side of the store they have the bead area with those things. Bring a minifig with you and test them out. This is also the area of the store where I buy the tiny 2x2 inch ziploc bags in which I will keep minifigures.

I don't really use a steady method of sorting. I kept trying one method and just kept using new ones. My collection is laid out pretty much like this:

I have a 39 drawer hardware organizer. Drawers are mostly organized by piece type though I do have general catagorys(slopes, little lego drawers, lego dinings, big animals, little animals, misc unsorted, misc unsorted 2, and a few others)

Then I do have a new 18 drawer set I got at lowes. Currently still wrapped in packaging. I'm hoping to get it up in the next couple days to move some lego vehicle parts into them.

Then I have a few things in my curio cabnet. I have the lego IJ temple set, a Coast guard chopper and a dig them dinosaurs oversized minifig(about 5 or 6 inches tall) I scooped up from ebay.

Then I have some more containers. One has house stuff in it and some more sloped pieces. Another has wheels in it for now, the pieces will be moved to the new hardware organizer except for a Lego IJ vehicle which will move to a differnt drawer system. That box will possibly remain empty for now. Then another has various plates in it.

I also have a larger tub(i think something like a 3 or 4 gallon capacity) that holds misc bricks and plates. Another fishing box(about 1ftX1ftX4inces) holds more misc.

I also have a small bag of misc pieces in another drawer.

And I have a 2-3 quart(I think) container with a lot of the pieces I got from the lego store PAB wall, the gas station from a different set, and a little tractor from yet another set.

Now for my main storage unit.

It's a new 10 drawer roller cart I got as a late christmas gift. On the top is the little lego house that I built from the lego club JR magizine. I am planning on taking it apart some time b/c so of the parts, I don't have many of. Then I have a lego HP board game that I got for christmas. I don't have to time for it at this time so it's just a dust magnet atm(still in packaging). And I have a 2.4 quart sterelite container(lid is MIA) that has some stray lego pieces in it. I did clean it up monday by putting some pieces in a different container, but there's still some stray pieces in it. I also have a lego cup(large) with misc stuff in it(minifigure, animal, brick, and some other stuff). I crocheted a simple chain and I used it as a tie looped through the handle around the handle on top of the cart to keep it from falling from the cart. If it does, it'll be a bungee cord!

I also have a sterelite(about 6 quart capacity I think) with a misc bricks, a minifig or two, smaller container with small misc pieces, some plates and I think a few small pieces loose in the bigger section.

I have the top drawer with a yet to be assembled farmer set, pod w/ small misc pieces, and 3 mystery minifigs series 3(pilot, gorilla, and tennis gal) I would probably have more, but I have an uncle john bathroom reader, GB/GBA games, 3 squinky set(bride, seashell, and shopping), and a GBA SP in that drawer too.

Another drawer has a small box usually used to hold beads in. I love it b/c I have a space for lego food, lego money/jewels, misc, little bits, etc and i'm able to keep track of the bits way better now. Same drawer has a sterelite with some bricks, people, few dogs, a piggie, two cars, trees and a few other bits.

Next drawer down houses a sterelite with most of the lego advent 2010, another bead box that was empty until time morning. I used the big section to move my lego animal section(owls, baby dinos, frogs and a fishy) to have more room. The section in the other box that housed the animals is now now empty for now., and a 16x16 plate with the addition to the lego house I made. it has 2 walls and I used it as a living room. Assembled atm. Not sure about future plans with it.

Next drawer has a container of misc stuff. Bricks, I think a plane bottom, some tumbled stones from the flea market, etc next drawer has 4 of the lego 6 buck sets. One racer, a Helicopter 3 in 1, off roader 3 in one, and a dumper 3 in 1. only the off roader is opened at this time.

Last drawer occupied by lego has misc pieces, some stuff from x-pods, lego truck from an IJ set, and the camper set(fell apart on me -_-). I did reassemble to Camper, but I had to pull a different colored door from my hardware organizer b/c I can't locate to orginal white door at this time. I also had to get a 2X3 plate to act as reinforcement for the front tires b/c I don't know what happened to the orginal part.

I also have a few X-pods and a small handful of bricks/plates/angled that were dirty and I dryed between paper towel layers and used q-tips to dry the crevices. They are now in the drawer that has the misc pieces, xpod, lego truck, and camper set.

I had an order of lego Pick a brick come in this past monday. The minifigures are assembled and waiting for me to decide how to store them(for now, they're resting in the top drawer of my cart), the plates are in one section of my lego bead organizer for now, the 2X4 plates in a different section, unprinted heads with the other stray minifigure hats, the round 2X2's I got are now in the empty section the animals were in, and the sabers are in the minifigure accessory area

If i have an inconsistentcy's with my organization story as I go on, please let me know and I can correct it. I've written and edited this statement over a few days on a text document for a couple reasons. First, I was in the middle of waiting for my lego pab order to come in so I figured I'd wait for that to come in and be able to get that included in my organizing. And second, I knew I was going to have to move the animal section to the large section of my other container section or break it down into a couple catagories soon so i figured i'd wait until I was done with that so i'd be up to date with my organizing system.

It's about time I actully went through his topic (always look, but forget to post, when I mean to every time )

I currently used named Ice-cream containers, plus a few bags since I'm still getting more Ice-cream containers to 'complete' my sorting.

It'll all currently seperated out into colours:

Tan + Dark Tan

Brown + Dark Orange

Red + Dark Red

Other Reds (Pink, Purple, other odd shades)

Blues

Greens

Yellows

Black

White

Old DkGrey

Old LtGrey

New DkBley

New LtBley

Trans Colours

Then also have extras:

Animals

Greenery

Miscellanous

Then from there, The colours are seperated out into:

Bricks (all Bricks are actully currently held in Lego 'Grab Bags', due to needing more Ice-cream Containers)

Plates

Other

And, depending on the amount of each type of part, some are seperated out into:

Plates: Small or Large

Other: Small or Large

So far, it works quite well. But I'm still in desperate need of more Ice-cream Containers as I keep buying more parts!

My current system is that I just have a big box (around 30 Litre) that I'll sort every time it gets over half full (usually once every 3 months or so, but that varies hugely)

Edited January 24, 201114 yr by Legoman

I figured I'd share my LEGO room since it is for the most part sorted and does not look like a complete and utter disaster.

Here is my (so far) sorted room:

Boxes of PaB, bulk and whatnots I have lots of:

Bricks and more, every set on the shleves are MISB still.

AND Here is what it looked like two years ago:

Yea, there is a pool table somewhere under there, and since then I had bought so much more brick too.

I just have mine sorted into colors in zip lock bags stored in plastic tubs. I cant imagine sorting into brick by type.

Wow Thats one lovely collection Polish Guy, and sorted immaculately

I got my Akro-Mils drawer cabinet today. But before I start sorting... I've looked around to try and find the answer to this question. If you store bricks by stacking them, does that really have a damaging effect on them? I am inclined to store them all stacked together to both save space and to make it easier to quickly grab a certain quantity of bricks. I see mention here and there that it might loosen them up, but I'm kind of skeptical that's really a problem. Has anyone left bricks stacked together for a long period of time and had a problem?

I got my Akro-Mils drawer cabinet today. But before I start sorting... I've looked around to try and find the answer to this question. If you store bricks by stacking them, does that really have a damaging effect on them? I am inclined to store them all stacked together to both save space and to make it easier to quickly grab a certain quantity of bricks. I see mention here and there that it might loosen them up, but I'm kind of skeptical that's really a problem. Has anyone left bricks stacked together for a long period of time and had a problem?

I don't recommend it. I heard that it can warp bricks a tiny bit over time and cause problems.

I saw that first hand in some 1X2 bricks. I left some in the kinda triangle shape formation after i was done with them and I noticed that after not long, the clutching power was getting worse. I went from being able to make a wall w/o bottom support 2 bricks high(yes, i used overlapping building for all pieces) and I wasn't able to have it stay together well anymore and I had to make it 3 bricks high for proper support.

Hmm well I found the following in the comments of this very interesting article (LINK):

I posted this over at Lugnet, a with a response in this thread:

"...this may actually cause your bricks to warp slightly over time..."

and regarding a loss of "clutch power":

"...I would recommend always storing any lego element not assembled..."

-Rob Antonishen

[ Reply to This | # ]

Authored by: Windell on Thursday, January 03 2008 @ 05:29 PM PST How to organize your Lego bricks for efficient building

I certainly have not seen any warping or clutch loss in a few years of storing things this way. In any case, by that logic, all Lego models should be promptly disassembled after they are built to avoid the same fate!

---

Windell H. Oskay

drwho(at)evilmadscientist.com

http://www.evilmadscientist.com/

[ Reply to This | # ]

Authored by: clgonsal on Thursday, January 10 2008 @ 10:37 PM PST How to organize your Lego bricks for efficient building

I've heard rumors of this sort of "clutch loss" from leaving pieces connected but, like you, I am skeptical. While I have had the occasional Lego piece lose its grip, I suspect that this was more due to repeated use (ie: many connects and disconnects) rather than being connected for a long period of time. As far as I can tell, ABS plastic tends to bounce back to its original shape unless deformed critically, in which case the damage is immediate. I could easily imagine friction wearing down the surface, however, which would suggest that repeated-use is the real culprit.

Someone should do an experiment. :-)

[ Reply to This | # ]

Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, August 02 2010 @ 02:10 PM PDT How to organize your Lego bricks for efficient building

I have some of my uncles' Lego bricks from the 1960s, given to me in the late 1990s. In the bag they were given to me, some connected, and some not; they still inter-fit with new bricks irregardless.

Extreme sun exposure, extreme use/wear seems that some of my own that were "driven daily" for a two to three decades do much more than just putting two bricks together for extended periods of time as my uncles' bricks.

Most interesting is the claim of the 1960s bricks that are still fully functional.

1) To those with the Akro-Mills or StackOn drawer cabinets: Do they actually stack well? Is there grooves to make them fit and lock on top of each other, or is it just smooth tops and bottoms, or even unstable?

I can answer this now. I got my Akro-Mils container yesterday from Amazon. While I only have one right now, it does have two nice big slots on top that have a slight downward slope, and I'm confident that this makes them fit together well. They may not fully interlock (not sure) like a couple of 2x4 lego bricks would, but I don't see this as a problem. The slots would keep the one on top from shifting left-to-right or forward, and might even stop it from shifting backwards too. Basically, it looks pretty solid to me.

Some other notes...

You can fully pull out the drawers, which is nice. But there is also a bit of a stopper resistance so that you can slide it almost all the way out and leave it open if you want to rifle through like that. So I don't think I'll run into an issue where I accidentally pull too hard and little bits go flying all over the room.

On the back of the unit there is a bit of extra plastic you can cut out and put into the drawers as partitions/dividers. I haven't done this yet.

The drawers aren't totally transparent. They're a little bit "smoky", but mostly see-through. I haven't done any sorting/storing yet so I can't report how much of an issue this is (if at all).

The small drawers are smaller than I expected. Basically I thought the whole thing was going to be a little bit larger. I easily see myself getting another one, maybe with larger drawers, in the near future. For now... I gotta stop spending money on this hobby lol.

Edited January 27, 201114 yr by Zeya

Well as annoying it may be compared to MOCing, sorting bricks is really essential if you want build anything decent on a regular basis. Overall it saves a lot of time and allows to order just the bricks needed on Bricklink!

That said, I can't understand why there are still so many people who don't sort their "treasure".

Personally I prefer to maintain a general collection sorted primarily by type and secondarily by colour plus I keep special bricks related to projects and huge quantities of bricks in plastic bags next to the projects they were ordered for so that the core collection doesn't get to messy. Sort of works

Boxes of PaB, bulk and whatnots I have lots of:

Those clear plastic bins are great eh? That's what I use as well for most of the big lots I have.

You've done a great job on your room as well. Love the building area, but doesn't your back get sore?

Love the building area, but doesn't your back get sore?

Yeah, you're Lego room is awesome, but you need a chair with a back rest

Yeah, you're Lego room is awesome, but you need a chair with a back rest

I find myself standing more than anything, running around looking for parts in bins and what not. never had any back pain yet so its all good.

Also what is not pictured is the other side of the room with a masive couch and a full blown home theater, I build most of my sets on the coffee table with a movie playing or something.

On the back of the unit there is a bit of extra plastic you can cut out and put into the drawers as partitions/dividers. I haven't done this yet.

The small drawers are smaller than I expected. Basically I thought the whole thing was going to be a little bit larger. I easily see myself getting another one, maybe with larger drawers, in the near future. For now... I gotta stop spending money on this hobby lol.

A quick note up front: After doing my sorting this weekend, I think I definitely need the "box4blox". Has anyone reading this used this tool? I might actually make a special thread about this. I think that will really help the sorting process. I also learned that it is better to sort elements in smaller chunks, rather than a larger quantity.

I think I want to get the brick separator tool as well. I'm hoping that thing will make it possible to separate two 1x2 plates that are stacked together. I also have a 10x10 plate with a little 1x1 plate (not round stud) stuck in the middle of it that I can't get off.

Well this weekend I broke down my winter bakery and winter toy shop sets and sorted them out and stored them in the akro-mils cabinet. I stacked everything to save on space and because that's how I want to do it. I kind of sorted by mold, but ended up combining some molds in the same drawer. For example, I have a drawer for "technic stuff that pins and whatnot go into". My favorite drawer is the minifig head drawer. Also the stickered/printed part drawer. And the small animal mold/light brick/rope-thread drawer. And... you get the picture.

Oh yeah and there are these dividers you can cut out on the back. If you get this cabinet, make sure you do that first! I had it filled with bricks when I did; nothing happened because I was very careful, but yeah. The dividers fit into slots that are there for you in the middle of the drawers and bisect the drawer in two equal parts. This is great for example on my drawer where I have 1x1 snot tiles next to the 1x1 slope pieces, thus avoiding having to use a whole other drawer for it and wasting space. My only gripe is that there aren't enough of the dividers included; I think you can buy extra dividers though.

So in summary: Akro-Mils gets a thumbs up from me. But on the same token, I can see it filling up quickly. The cabinet I got that has a mix of small and large drawers was a good place to start. But if I were to buy it all over again in hindsight, I would get two cabinets: one with just small drawers and one with just big drawers. Just because I know it will definitely get used.

Any questions, don't hesitate to PM me!

A quick note up front: After doing my sorting this weekend, I think I definitely need the "box4blox". Has anyone reading this used this tool? I might actually make a special thread about this. I think that will really help the sorting process. I also learned that it is better to sort elements in smaller chunks, rather than a larger quantity.

Never used it, but to me that seems like it would make things harder. I sort everything together out of a big cardboard tray and I end sorting from biggest to smallest anyways. Having the big pieces in the small pieces makes them easier to spot, and then at the end I'm left with all the smaller pieces like I would be if I used that box.

I think I want to get the brick separator tool as well. I'm hoping that thing will make it possible to separate two 1x2 plates that are stacked together. I also have a 10x10 plate with a little 1x1 plate (not round stud) stuck in the middle of it that I can't get off.

It will, though if the former are stuck together really tight, you might want to invest in a pair of separators to pry them apart.

Oh yeah and there are these dividers you can cut out on the back. If you get this cabinet, make sure you do that first! I had it filled with bricks when I did; nothing happened because I was very careful, but yeah. The dividers fit into slots that are there for you in the middle of the drawers and bisect the drawer in two equal parts. This is great for example on my drawer where I have 1x1 snot tiles next to the 1x1 slope pieces, thus avoiding having to use a whole other drawer for it and wasting space. My only gripe is that there aren't enough of the dividers included; I think you can buy extra dividers though.

Why not use strips of cardboard?

Never used it, but to me that seems like it would make things harder. I sort everything together out of a big cardboard tray and I end sorting from biggest to smallest anyways. Having the big pieces in the small pieces makes them easier to spot, and then at the end I'm left with all the smaller pieces like I would be if I used that box.

I don't find that having small pieces mixed with big really makes it easier to sort. I kind of like the idea of having that thing split a group of bricks into 4 sections; I think it would make it easier. Certainly not a silver bullet though. The real question is whether or not it's worth the USA $40. I don't think I'll get one right now.

Why not use strips of cardboard?

I just smacked myself in the forehead for not thinking of that. Fantastic idea.