As my collection of small components grows, it is becoming... messy. And it is not even large yet, I have only done a handful of hobby projects.
Recently I had the realization that I can make use of Chinese 'Sample Books' to keep the smaller reel components well organized. I have ordered 0402, 0603, the 0805, and two empty books to use these as the basis of my organization:
What made me originally select the strategy of keeping the original packaging that the components came and stuffing them into project-specific bags is the labeling. My first attempt at organization was to to use small storage boxes for sorting, but when I tried to keep single labeled components per box I ran out of boxes very quickly... When I mix multiple components in a box (like different photodiodes, for example), then it is difficult to label them separately without using too much space.
I am curious about what methods others use for keeping a component library organized and easy to search.
My component list is small, generic things go in a tackle box, like they use for fishing. And things that are project specific stay in a small box for that project. It's not perfect, but it works well enough.
When you mix different components into one of the boxes, do you have a system to label them? Or are the components easy enough to recognize by looking at them?
I keep the digikey labels. (Or other stores) Usually in the shipping baggies.
Thanks! The problem I run into is that the bags end up taking up a lot more space than the components themselves. Yesterday I started testing printing a small label with the component's code and sticking it into the reel.