To LUGNET HomepageTo LUGNET News HomepageTo LUGNET Guide Homepage
 Help on Searching
 
Post new message to lugnet.buildOpen lugnet.build in your NNTP NewsreaderTo LUGNET News Traffic PageSign In (Members)
 Building / 14399
14398  |  14400
Subject: 
Re: How do you guys do it?
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.build, lugnet.storage
Date: 
Tue, 30 Dec 2003 03:23:03 GMT
Viewed: 
8838 times
  
In lugnet.build, Larry Pieniazek wrote:
> In lugnet.build, Nick Kappatos wrote:
> 
> (a bunch of really great stuff about sorting which I snipped)
> 
> While I agree that sorting is key, realise that Here There Be Tygers... it is
> possible to go on a quest for the One True Sorting Scheme, get involved in
> religious wars about what the right way to sort is, dump a whole bunch of money
> into fancy storage and then burn out. Heck, there's an entire newsgroup just to
> talk about sorting and storage. (http://news.lugnet.com/storage/ )

Me thinks thou doth confuseth two issves.  ;)

> So watch out for that!

Yes, watch out for spending too much money on 'storage' containers at first.
But spend whatever time and thought are necessary to adopt a system of sorting
that matches your buying and building habits.

> That said, some sort of scheme is good to have, and it REALLY does improve the
> ratio of time spent building vs. non productive time. Pick one scheme and see if
> you like it but try not to invest TOO much time and money, because you'll
> outgrow it.

I totally agree.

Your sorting scheme is a system in-and-of itself and is *almost* independent of
the actual boxes the bricks end up getting stored in.  They are connected though
at some levels.  You can't, for example, store 1000 2x4 bricks in a 3x3 inch
zip-lock bag.  The container must match the quantity being stored.  However,
that container (especially when you're first getting started) can be anything.
You can use zip-lock bags, recycled LEGO tubs and buckets, empty shoe boxes,
well-cleaned tuna cans... you name it.  But the 'way' in which you sort is the
more critical system to define... at least in my books.  I like my plastic
shoebox sized tubs and my medium sized Plano boxes, but they are not as
important as how I have categorized and separated the bricks which they contain.

If I was starting again today to build my adult collection I would make as much
use as possible of recycled containers costing little or nothing.  Then, as my
buying and collecting habits began to trend I would try to match the containers
with the way in which I had learned to sort my bricks for my own building style.
In that way I would try to buy the right sized/shaped containers for now and for
the future.  As it stands, I have a bunch of undersized containers from my early
days that are heading for the recycling bins.

> (for the record, the One True Sorting Scheme is Ikea wooden shelving with
> Sterilite shoebox bins with the parts sorted by type (down to individual types
> like 1x2 plates, or 2x3 inverse slopes, etc), not color, then backing store of
> basic bricks sorted by type AND color, and backing backing store of 65 quart
> bins of parts still in bags from when they were parted out from sets or bought
> from BrickLink)

If you need that much volume.  Not all of us do yet.  ;)

For the record, I use a hybrid sorting system.  I sort by size/shape, by color
alone and sometimes by both at the same time.  For me, it depends on just how
many of a certain element I actually have.  And as some categories grow I
sometimes move one piece (or group of pieces) from one part of the system to
another.

Best regards,
Allan B.



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: How do you guys do it?
 
In lugnet.build, Nick Kappatos wrote: (a bunch of really great stuff about sorting which I snipped) While I agree that sorting is key, realise that Here There Be Tygers... it is possible to go on a quest for the One True Sorting Scheme, get involved (...) (23 years ago, 30-Dec-03, to lugnet.build, lugnet.storage)

9 Messages in This Thread:



Entire Thread on One Page:
Nested:  All | Brief | Compact | Dots
Linear:  All | Brief | Compact
    

©2005 LUGNET. All rights reserved. - hosted by steinbruch.info GbR