Storage of small parts and tools

Hi folks,

Altoids are a great tasting, strong mint. The metal boxes they come
in are great for storage of small tools, burrs, drills and parts.
Pieces of yet to be fabricated jewelry can be placed temporarily in a
box. You can place temporarty stickers on the box to identify the
contents. Give them a try.

Lee

Hi all, this marks my debut from lurker to active participant – I
just couldn’t help but comment on Lee’s Altoid box tip. As an Altoid
junkie from way back, I’ve stored drill bits, sweeps, all manner of
stuff in these boxes for a long time. My (admittedly minor)
contribution is this: put the small packs of silica gel that come in
food packets in with the ferrous stuff to prevent rust. Orchidians
rule! From beautiful Berkeley, where the leaves are starting to fall
and the light has changed to include more golden notes.
Elna B.

Hi Lee; I agree! The sales staff where I work go through Altoids by
the caseload, so I have lots of boxes for storing solders, burs, parts
for my benchmate and system 3, etc. I used to use empty snuff cans,
but they’re a lot harder to come by, since I don’t “dip” snuff and I
don’t know many good `ol boys to give me their emptys. :slight_smile:
David L. Huffman

I’ve purchased round watch parts tins in a couple of sizes from
SWest. I sometimes use them to ship waxes to my caster. The tins are
probably available from watch materials suppliers.

Rick Hamilton

Contact lens cases make great storage places for solder paillons or
granules; and if you use mechanical pencils, those plastic cases the
leads come in are excellent for storing small drill bits and burs.
Tic-Tac boxes are useful for storing jump rings and small findings or
beads. What’s nice about all of the above is their portability if
you and your toolbox do a lot of traveling.

Dee

Hello Lee, There is another similar mint that comes in a slightly
smaller metal box - Velamints brand Intense Peppermints. You’re
right; they’re very handy for storage of small items. Competition
for these could become “intense!” ;-} Judy in Kansas, where it
Finally rained!! Didn’t have to irrigate my lawn after all.

Judy M. Willingham, R.S.
Biological and Agricultural Engineering
237 Seaton Hall
Kansas State University
Manhattan KS 66506
(785) 532-2936

My sister has a 99 cents store and I have seen many different boxes
with a lot of compartments for costume jewelry beads and some others
for very small parts and for storage of pills for every day of the
week. and for sewing supplies like needles and thread.

Marco

Hi All! I was just in Wal Mart today buying notebooks, pencils, etc.,
for my school age kids when I came across Tiny Altoid Boxes. Yep,
the same red and white containers, full, I assume, of regular sized
mints, but these tins were about 1.5" by 2", and standard thickness.
Looked just the right size for burs. Didn’t buy any, I’m looking for
a larger package of them. Also, if you hadn’t noticed, empty 35
millimeter film canisters are very usefull for storing wax models. A
little cotton to keep them from rattling around helps.

David L. Huffman

My current favorite storage is the little cheap glass lid tins from
Harbor Freight. They come in boxes of 6 or so and three sizes. The
little ones are about the diameter of a quarter and work great for
solder. The biggest ones are super for scrap collecting and specific
types of parts (tubing, shot balls, …) The best part is the clear
glass lids so you can see the contents. I write whats in them on the
sides and then stack them in a little tidy tower on my bench shelf.

t.lee

also very cool for seed collecting