[dorkbotpdx-blabber] Recommend ESD storage boxes

[David Turnbull]

Most of the parts for my Peaberry SDR have arrived and have been
sorted into bins. I've been cutting up the reels and storing the bits
in plastic food storage bins. It is very easy to open these and move
the parts into kits. This is great for Cs, Rs and hardware. My
"wall" of parts is quite impressive. However, I've not found the
right solution for storing silicon. Right now, I use ESD bags stored
in a large metal tin, but removing single parts from a bag is much
more difficult than pulling from a box. This action of removing a
part from a box will be repeated 10,000 times each week so every
fraction of a second matters.

My ideal box costs nothing (but I have $ for this), is ESD safe, has a
removable lid, can be dropped without the lid coming off, and is
5"x5"x1.5". I need 16, preferably all the same size, or at least
stackable.

Please help.

-david
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[Greg Peek]

There are some black trays that I recall are marked as ESD safe at Surplus Gizmos.  They are on the tall shelves near the left wall relative to when you enter the store.  If I have to go out and about today I will take some photos of them.

[Doug Ausmus]

Back in the old days, HP ink jet cartridges came in little aluminum
trays with a peel-off foil lid. These worked great for this
application and were free by the thousands as most people just tossed
these. Unfortunately, plastic is the packaging these days and not
anti-static. Perhaps you can find a stash of those old aluminum
trays.. I kept a few around and they make the best parts trays. Wish I
had a bunch more.

Yes, there are ESD-safe parts bins made of steel, with black
antistatic pull out trays. These are similar to those blue plastic
ones with the clear parts trays you can almost anywhere, but the
antistatic ones are hard to find and not cheap. I have one from years
ago, but I never have seen them on surplus- you may get lucky.

Grainger has some, but they are a bit larger than you may want and a
bit pricier than you may want to spend:
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/QUANTUM-STORAGE-SYSTEMS-ESD-Conductive-Bin-4RR35?Pid=search

I don't know what their minimum order quantity is, but check out these:
http://shop.corstat.com/cart.php?target=category&category_id=29

-Doug

[David Turnbull]

Doug, are there lids for these? I found plenty of open bins like this
at mouser and digikey but never came across a sku for lids. My ESD
safe area isn't big enough for storage so things need to be shuttled
safely across carpet. Good lids are a feature I can't compromise on.
They must not spill SOT-23 tapes that have been cut down to singles.

-david

[Doug Ausmus]

I don't think these have lids, but there are cardboard containers that
are antistatic that close completely. And other kinds of cardboard and
plastic lidded trays for SMD parts that are antistatic- I didn't look
any of those up though. If I have time alter I will try to find some
examples of lidded types for you, but I am on a deadline for today and
the rest of the week, so I may not get to it.

:-)
Doug