Storage and Sorting LEGO

[allanp]

Here is an old picture of my set up, it has since expanded a little but is mostly the same.

Set ups like this, where all parts are sorted by their type (in draws like above or in any other kind of organizer) so that you never have to spend more than a few seconds looking for that part you only have a couple of in a pile of 100,000 parts are great, but they do take some maintaining to keep all those parts sorted. So my question is, what methods or strategies do you guys use to speed up the process of sorting parts?

Lets say you have a box of 5000 unsorted random parts. Obviously just picking a part out at random one at a time then finding the right draw/compartment for them and doing that piece by piece takes many hours, and is soooooooo boring. So I tend to sort them by family first. For example I'll find out all the gears of all sizes then put them in a container. After that rough sorting I can then spill out the container on the desk and very quickly pick out all the 24t gears and place them into their final place. This method of sorting all the parts twice may seem to be counter intuitive, but I find it much quicker to rough sort, then final sort then to try to sort the whole pile of 5000 parts in one go.

Another scenario is you have a set that is built. Do you go through the instructions in reverse and place each piece you remove into their final place, or do you tear apart the model onto your desk and sort the parts afterwards?

As mundane as it may seem, due to the time it takes to maintain organised part collections I'de be interested to know what your strategies are for sorting parts.

 

[M_longer]

How? Without any sense :)

Long time ago I have tried to sort them by type:

But when I realized that after building few sketch models most of them needs to be sorted again, I just toss them to few larger drawers, "by type". Which usually means that all axles are in one drawer, all modified liftarms are in another etc.

[Andy D]

I have a drawer system for beams (straight and bent) and a few other things like steering and suspension. I use Plano boxes for all my small pieces (like pins, axels, gears, which are arranged by type and/or length and miscellaneous connectors again arranged  by type and power functions) that I use frequently then I store wheels and pneumatics seperately.

When building a MOC I have a stack of Plano boxes beside me that I can quickly rearrange to get pieces I need.

When building a set I sort the set into divided trays and sort pieces like I store them, same system for ease memory and ease of access.

When dissassembling I just take the model apart (a pile of parts) then sort into my storage system for use later.

It is a fairly simple system and it just works. Next time I build a MOC or set I will take photos to illustrarte how it works.

Andy D

 

Edited May 6, 2017 by Andy D

[shadow_elenter]

I work highly sorted, I love working that way!
True, it takes time to sort the parts out, but I get help from my girlfriend
The sorting is a mindless task, so we talk and joke around while doing it so it's actually it great quality time for us!

I might post some pix of my setup later

[JJ2]

I mainly sort Beams by type, like frames and dogbones in one, the two different L beams in their own different containers and the regular beams by light and dark (dark = black, DBG, DG, red) (light = LBG, White, NXT white, yellow) I have all my lime color parts in their own container because I was to have easy access to them.

For pins I put 2L black ones in their own spot, 2L blue axlepin and 3L friction pins share the same spot, and all the other non-friction, 3/4 pins, and so on that are for more special uses all are in 1 container.

I put all of my axles in 1 box, no sorting whatsoever. For bushings I have them all in 1 box too

Connectors are sorted by 6536 and 32031 type connectors

All suspension parts are sorted by springs, and other suspension parts

Gears are sorted by bevel and spur

 

[Milan]

Merged with:

 

[Giantorange]

On 5/4/2017 at 11:12 AM, matty33 said:

Found a good site here in England you guys might wanna check out for sorting and storing your Lego 

https://www.3jc.co.uk/parts-and-storage-boxes/storage-drawers-organisers/new-drawbox-parts-storage-draws/

I have some of these.  One thing to watch out for, if you change your mind about the shape they are connected together, they are practically impossible to get apart.  Other than that they are great.

[allanp]

So, my question was how do you guys SPEED UP the process of sorting parts into their individual types?

Edited May 6, 2017 by allanp

[Takanuinuva]

3 hours ago, allanp said:

So, my question was how do you guys SPEED UP the process of sorting parts into their individual types?

Well it might not be fast. But when I sorted my parts. I grabbed a handful and picked one type to start with. Once all of that type are out of the pile. I put the remaining pieces back in the box. Repeat until all of that type are sorted.

Repeat with other parts.

[Andy D]

16 hours ago, allanp said:

So, my question was how do you guys SPEED UP the process of sorting parts into their individual types?

My sorting process is to start with one pile of mixed parts. I separate parts by types, I.e. Beams, pins, axels,  connectors, etc. then I sort further by type and size. For me the speeding up is just organization of the process.

Andy D

Edited May 7, 2017 by Andy D

[allanp]

Just now, Andy D said:

My sorting process is to separate parts by types, I.e. Beams, pins, axels,  connectors, etc. then I sort further by type and size. For me the speeding up is just organization of the process.

Andy D

Thanks, so that's the same as me then. 

[Giantorange]

2 hours ago, Andy D said:

My sorting process is to start with one pile of mixed parts. I separate parts by types, I.e. Beams, pins, axels,  connectors, etc. then I sort further by type and size. For me the speeding up is just organization of the process.

Andy D

Pretty much the same thing here.  Start with a pile, then pull out all the bricks, then plates, then slopes and tiles.  Sort these further into colours and individual part types.  Then dig through the rest of the pile and pull out multiples, then sort in to sub-types and file them.

 

Matt

[1gor]

On 2/23/2009 at 5:57 PM, Hinckley said:

OK, so recently the 5 millionth topic was opened about storage. Let's keep it all to one sub-forum and one topic.

How do you sort your LEGO?

How do you store your LEGO?

Discuss...

each color in separate container and my wife says that LEGO takes more space that her shoes 

[dr_spock]

16 hours ago, I_Igor said:

each color in separate container and my wife says that LEGO takes more space that her shoes 

My wife only has a couple pairs of shoes.  My LEGO takes up more shoe box storage containers. 

To speed up sorting, I pick out the large pieces first and work my way down in sizes.

 

[1gor]

9 hours ago, dr_spock said:

My wife only has a couple pairs of shoes.  My LEGO takes up more shoe box storage containers. 

To speed up sorting, I pick out the large pieces first and work my way down in sizes.

 

Thai is also a good idea when sorting, depending on parts count in particular color I use boxes in different sizes. Only my sorting is smaller, because my terrier must sniff every brick 

My wife has 3 pairs for winter, two pairs of sport shoes two pairs for summer and two pairs for rainy part of spring and autumn (lucky for me in Croatia clime is not so cold as in Canada)...anyway yesterday she bought me 42057 set but sorting is something what I do when I finish a project...

[Andy D]

15 hours ago, dr_spock said:

My wife only has a couple pairs of shoes.  My LEGO takes up more shoe box storage containers. 

To speed up sorting, I pick out the large pieces first and work my way down in sizes.

 

Large to small is a very good, easy way to sort/organize.  I find I have way more small pieces than large, so it seems to take much more time to sort/organize when I get to the small pieces.

My greatest difficulty in storing is when I have one or just a few of something really unique. My question to me is... How do I store this piece so that I can easily find it when it is needed?

Unique pieces are sometimes nice, but it is too bad that more special pieces are not somehow built from standard pieces, be it System or Technic.

Andy D

 

[jFox]

I've been researching Akro-Mils and they seem to have some panels you can attach to a wall: https://akro-mils.com/Products/Types/Cabinets-Racks-Shelving-Panels/Louvered-Systems. Then you get a fastener to attach to the back of the container, and voila! Clip it onto the panel anywhere you want, essentially a peg-board style system like one you might have for hanging various tools.Moving them around, taking them on or off, etc, seems like it would be very easy with that type of setup. The 36" x 3" seems especially useful, though the typical container size is 20" wide which makes for some awkward extra space.

For all the people in here who use containers like Akro-Mils, Stack On, etc... how do you keep the containers secure? Do you screw them to the wall? Just leave them upright on the edge of a desk and be careful not to knock them over? My initial thought is "of course I wouldn't knock them over, I'm an adult and always very careful." But then I follow that with a more realistic thought of "I'm a clumsy adult who knocks things over all the time, so this would be disastrous if not secured." Looking at stacks of these things 2 or 3 levels high seems like a recipe for disaster if you're not careful. I'm about to start a major overhaul of my LEGO area and was considering devoting a large chunk of space to these types of containers.

[adam_]

I'm in the process of finishing off an extension on the house to be an office/LEGO room so I'm in the process of trying to find the best storage method, whether its off the shelf boxes or shelfs or custom built stuff.

Has anyone been in this situation before, its like a blank canvas, curious to see any odd or custom storage methods?

In the meantime I'm going through this topic from start to finish to get ideas.

Edited June 23, 2017 by adam_

[Foxw]

On 5/6/2017 at 4:16 PM, Giantorange said:

I have some of these.  One thing to watch out for, if you change your mind about the shape they are connected together, they are practically impossible to get apart.  Other than that they are great.

Saw that Link. Sadly wrong side of the pond else I'd easily order way too many. that's like my storage wet dream

On 5/6/2017 at 11:19 PM, Takanuinuva said:

Well it might not be fast. But when I sorted my parts. I grabbed a handful and picked one type to start with. Once all of that type are out of the pile. I put the remaining pieces back in the box. Repeat until all of that type are sorted.

Repeat with other parts.

As others have said, i'll group by type, then just go, course for a ocd freak theres something zen like, for me Sorting is just a total de-stress moment.

On 5/8/2017 at 2:59 AM, I_Igor said:

each color in separate container and my wife says that LEGO takes more space that her shoes 

If you can't pass that Hurtle, your doing it wrong :), that or the wife has a worse addiction :D

[1gor]

@Foxw wether we like it or not you got (at least one) point LEGO is addiction, but lucky for us creators of new world order decided that this addiction is legal 

[davesonmaui]

I am starting to make space and sort my collection.  I want to keep some sets together, maybe even display some.  I also have 5-6 large boxes of mixed parts to sort.  

Is it better to use totes and bags within, or get the shelves with lots of little bins?  What about display/finished model storage?

Any brands, or specifics appreciated.  Aloha!

[Andy D]

Have you seen this thread?        

  It has been updated for a number of years and has lots of good stuff. It is well worth a read.

Andy D

[Foxw]

On 7/6/2017 at 11:37 AM, Andy D said:

Have you seen this thread?        

  It has been updated for a number of years and has lots of good stuff. It is well worth a read.

Andy D

especially if you have a few months in a body cast :) "its not a thread, its a mega thread"

 

On 7/6/2017 at 5:03 AM, davesonmaui said:

I am starting to make space and sort my collection.  I want to keep some sets together, maybe even display some.  I also have 5-6 large boxes of mixed parts to sort.  

Is it better to use totes and bags within, or get the shelves with lots of little bins?  What about display/finished model storage?

Any brands, or specifics appreciated.  Aloha!

really, its preference.  I happened to have bin cabinets already so just jumped straight to those (plus i'm ocd so organisation is important to me) 

[Hoschiebaer]

On 6.5.2017 at 1:40 PM, allanp said:

Here is an old picture of my set up, it has since expanded a little but is mostly the same.

<Picture

Set ups like this, where all parts are sorted by their type (in draws like above or in any other kind of organizer) so that you never have to spend more than a few seconds looking for that part you only have a couple of in a pile of 100,000 parts are great, but they do take some maintaining to keep all those parts sorted. So my question is, what methods or strategies do you guys use to speed up the process of sorting parts?

Lets say you have a box of 5000 unsorted random parts. Obviously just picking a part out at random one at a time then finding the right draw/compartment for them and doing that piece by piece takes many hours, and is soooooooo boring. So I tend to sort them by family first. For example I'll find out all the gears of all sizes then put them in a container. After that rough sorting I can then spill out the container on the desk and very quickly pick out all the 24t gears and place them into their final place. This method of sorting all the parts twice may seem to be counter intuitive, but I find it much quicker to rough sort, then final sort then to try to sort the whole pile of 5000 parts in one go.

Another scenario is you have a set that is built. Do you go through the instructions in reverse and place each piece you remove into their final place, or do you tear apart the model onto your desk and sort the parts afterwards?

As mundane as it may seem, due to the time it takes to maintain organised part collections I'de be interested to know what your strategies are for sorting parts.

 

i started sorting my old lego by family or even piece (smaller nonplate/brick pieces) when i came out of my dark ages.

my newly bought lego got sorted by color in put in medium sized trays - sometimes it was a horror to find a certain piece, when you sort you parts like this.

 

i then went to a similar system like the one on the left of your picture and sorted in all plates and standart bricks into 2 organizer.

(each category fitted into one organizer) currently at a total 6 of these, one each hold all my:

- sloped and special bricks

- connectors (bricks/plates with clip/ ball joints / etc. ) and tiles

- all technic related bricks

- all animal parts/plants/car&train-parts

 

after all these were pretty much packed, i decided to sort certain colors into larger trays

https://www.rothoshop.de/Aufbewahrung/Schubladensysteme/Schubladenbox-SYSTEMIX-Tower-XS.html?listtype=search&searchparam=systemix#

my assembeled minfigures are pretty neatly stored on plates in these organizers

https://www.rothoshop.de/Aufbewahrung/Schubladensysteme/Schubladenbox-SYSTEMIX-Tower-S.html?listtype=search&searchparam=systemix

 

usually i sort my parts while dissambling medium sets into heaps on the table - if its a bigger set i sort part-families into trays (bricks/plates/technic/etc.)

afterwards i empty the trays onto my table and sort the parts by size, so i can put them fast into my organizers.

Edited July 10, 2017 by Hoschiebaer

[dtoerien]

Hello, and my apologies if this should go elsewhere - it relates to both storage and workplace, I guess, but isn't strictly either.

I have a modest but growing collection of elements (type and number), and I would like to arrange them as best I can before the task gets out of hand. The question is how to group them most logically/usefully. I seem to recall Technica being helpful in this regard before, but as far as I can tell it no longer exists (LUGNET also lists Lutz Uhlmann's Part Reference, which sounds promising but also doesn't seem to exist).

One approach would be starting with individual elements (e.g., LUGNET's Technic Elements, which seems to be strictly alphabetical) and then grouping them. The opposite approach would be to start with groupings of elements (such as BrickLink's Category Tree) and then working towards individual elements.

I would also like to learn about the various Technic Elements, especially their proper names, and how they are related (in "families") in the process.

While I appreciate that there is unlikely to be a definitive or 'cananonical' point of reference for this, I would be grateful for any advice on how best to proceed or to be redirected.

Thanks, Darryl.

P.S. I am a librarian by training and profession (and by nature, I suspect), so there are are powerful forces at work here.