The more I get into flashlight modding, the more bits and pieces I accumulate, and it’s starting to get a bit out of hand. Bags and bags of different LEDs, MCPCBs, optics, glass lenses, bags of parts from flashlight mods in progress, etc. Also all the soldering stuff. How does everyone store their modding supplies?
I’ve been looking at getting something like a parts storage cabinet with small drawers or tackle box. It seems a bit wasteful to have drawers for just a few LEDs, but having easy access would be awesome. I’d appreciate any thoughts from people with a better storage system than the boxes of sample bags I use now!
I’ve been using tackle box trays. One for LEDs & drivers, one for tailcap stuff, one for misc accessories, and one for tools & other supplies. Everything stays in it’s spot and is easily visible.
I recently switched from a divided plastic box to a Flambeau 3 tray fishing box I got from Walmart. Was hoping to get another Plano like the one I use for computer bits but they’ve gotten away from traditional style and I’m not a fan of the soft side or pull out boxes. A cantilever tray system works good for me.
It’s big enough that I can put less-used lights in it also to give the illusion that I’m not a flashlight nut. Now my “light drawer” only has users.
We are currently renting after moving back home, or I would have an indoor workshop.
Temp cheap storage, had to backup each shelf with 1x8 shelving.
Keep a lock on it to keep the Grandkids safe.
I’m not a big modder like some of those in BLF, and I consider myself a minimalist in that I only try to buy parts that I think I need to modify the flashlight I’m currently working on, here are my storage containers and leftover parts:
Fishing Plano tackle boxes and a few Lowes organizer boxes which I caught on sale a few years back.
The rest is stored in card board shoe boxes and some rubbermaid containers and a 4 tier shelf. Then there’s a pile of other various stuff on my work desk. :person_facepalming:
LED’s stay here, dedomed/ domeless in the flat thing (I got it when LedEngin sent me samples of their factory domeless LZ1), dome on / unmounted in the foil wrapped organizer thing. The grid paper is laminated so I can wipe the marker off and remark whenever things change.
Other bits stay here in this cool old storage thing I got from my Grandpa
With more bits in the plastic drawers on the shelf above
!
Just wanted to say that some on here are really organized. I keep my parts (the few I have) in the yellow envelopes they arrive in and just write the name of the content on the outside.
If I get, say, 5 of the same LEDs/drivers/etc. from FT or the like, they’ll typically come individually in those teeny-tiny glassine baggies.
So I’ll put all 5 into 1 baggie, and a small square of paper write the pertinent info on it, like “XP-L 4500K 16mm Cu”, “1.40A 1-mode 20mm” or whatever, which also goes into the bag so I can see at a glance what’s what.
Then LEDs go into one small box (shallow flip-top), drivers in another, other bulkier stuff like pills, drop-ins, etc., into a bigger box, etc.
Way more compact than drawer-type storage, but a bit more cumbersome.
Oh, and especially if from FT, if there’s a “model number”, like “225476”, I’ll also keep the packing lists from FT which go by that number, not the catno on the website, so I can always look them up to (re)confirm what they are.
