We use milk crates in a similar fashion. Bricks have more weight and might hold the load better... I don't think my replacement parts are going to be that cheap....more they are to help the tech fix boards in a more cost effective and less invasive fashion. Plus I don't want to design a whole raft of replacement MPUs, would rather make a few that cover many situations. Our 6502/6800/6802/6808 RAM/ROM board is one example. John :-#)# At 09:06 PM 12/07/2002 -0400, Alex Yeckley wrote:
Okay, we've all got ICs all over the place. How do you store/catergorize & organize your ICs?
I use tube handlers from Brick (www.brick.com). They are on the expensive side, but I don't have to worry about ESD and they are the perfect size. I've got five of the big ones going right now, with at least 200 different part numbers. For misc. parts I use the plastic drawer type like everyone else does.
I do differ a bit on my inventory tracking. I've got a database (Access) going that tracks all of the locations of the parts (by bins or drawer #), the in-stock quantity, the threshold at which I reorder, the description of the part, the more common cross- references, the quantity to reorder, the supplier, the suppliers part number and the cost. All of the reordering is done in an automated report that I print every so often. It's a great way to see how much money I have tied up in obsolete parts that John is going to make even more obsolete :-)
Alex ---- http://www.elektronforge.com ayeckley@elektronforge.com