Lets just say our team is not very organized and can get pretty messy. This is hurting us because we have to constantly be look for various sizes of screws collars, bearings ect. When it should take no time to find the screw you are looking for.
So what is your team using to organize all of your parts? Have you found any toolbox that has worked really well? Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. Links or pics of the organizer would be great 
i think a lot of teams would use these we have two
Yes, much like skater96782, we have organizers with slots for all of the various parts. This has worked well for us, because it’s very easy to find the part you need.
We also use something very similar, except each compartment is it’s own little box, so specific parts (eg. bolts and nuts) can be removed as sort of a unit from the original large storage container.
My 3 teams use the bigger version of the Husky toolbox ([http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202021302/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=husky+tool+box&storeId=10051#.UEdqxrKPVTI). The bottom section is deeper and does not have the smaller bins. This works great for competitions as well since each team has their own toolbox with the spare parts they need and there is plenty of room in the bottom for their netbook, joysticks, batteries, chargers, etc. We have one additional toolbox that is for additional shared parts and structure.
Jay](http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202021302/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=husky+tool+box&storeId=10051#.UEdqxrKPVTI). The bottom section is deeper and does not have the smaller bins. This works great for competitions as well since each team has their own toolbox with the spare parts they need and there is plenty of room in the bottom for their netbook, joysticks, batteries, chargers, etc. We have one additional toolbox that is for additional shared parts and structure.)
Don’t organize it doesn’t help at all. I just have all the parts thrown into a couple containers.
We keep it all organized and labeled for easy finding. Tank treads and different components like that are thrown into an “junk” compartment and used when needed. I have a new group of students every year, so this is the only way.
I like these two for small parts (nuts, screws, washers, etc) and I like this one for bigger parts (sensors, gears, sprockets, etc).
Then a good old giant bin for partial robots 18 wide like this is not bad either.
Thanks so much for your ideas
I would have to disagree with you. Keeping your parts organized can help when you need to fix something real quick.
If you organize your parts and tools, when you need them you will know exactly where they are. If you just throw them into a box, it will be really hard to find the exact part you are looking for.
have got 2 say - tool boxs are very useful - at the nationals last year … we had it chucked into a cardboard box - this had nuts/bolts metal / paperwork etc … it took us like 2/3 mins to find a collar nut when we needed one … so we organised the entire kit about a week after the competition, and it helps so much !
Obviously not true. Your team would have to have some sort of super-part-finder to be that disorganized.
I’m reminded of the countless hours I spent as a kid sifting through bins of legos to the the piece I needed…
We do that as well. Except we went super-size and use 4 or so ice cream containers and a coffee table (well, tables are just a tad more easy ;)).
It is very convenient when dismantling, but we find it an absolute nightmare when trying to find that one size of screw you cant find anywhere, and also in our case, when somebody sits on one of the sorting boxes (as we call them) :rolleyes:
What we use the sorting boxes for though was inspired by another kiwi team. They had a system where they would build, and just throw everything they dismantled into a sorting box (for convenience), but then at the end of each meeting they would actually sort through all the parts (hence the name sorting box) and organise it all neatly.
~George
Do you actually take those to competition? If not what do you take to competition?
We will only be taking the top 3 chests to our comps. The second link ones.
Each team at our school has one of these. http://www.buytoolsforhome.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Stanley-Mobile-Chest.jpg We take them everywhere with us and, they are the perfect size to fit our entire kits plus you can put a lock on them so you do not have to worry about people going through your stuff at competition. For our small parts and gears we use screw organizers you can buy at home depot.
Assortment of compartment boxes for all the hardware and other parts, while the metal and wheels go in separate toolboxes (not shown).
We used to be more in favor of the flat fish tackle boxes (far left) but this year decided to try something different.
Also important for 1492’s organization system is that the parts are labeled, organized and centralized. But when necessary individual boxes can be removed and taken to a different table for ease of access and returned when they are finished.
Glad to be of assistance.
