Tube Storage

[Mac Doktor]

This is a "how do you guys do it?" question...

I need a way to organize and safely store the odds and ends of tubes that I have. Nixies, Dekatrons, bargraphs, Magic Eyes etc. as well as a lot of the weird things from the WWII era.

Half of this stuff is loose except for some bubble wrap. Most of the Soviet surplus items are still in the box sent from Ukraine, all different shapes and sizes. It makes finding a particular tube a real hassle and handling a box like this can lead to disaster.

Then there's cabinets. You can't find anything decent anymore. Everything is overpriced flimsy crap. The drawers all fall out if you tip it 30°. Standing cabinets are only four feet high and can't take more than five pounds of stuff on top.

I did manage to find this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003P2UOCO

From the video it appears that at least the drawers don't slide all of the way out.

I also need boxes for my bubble lights and bubble tubes. If I had a a 18 x 26 laser cutter I'd make custom boxes and inserts out of heavy C1S stock but I don't have a place to set one up. Can't afford one that size right now, anyway.

Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"

https://www.astarcloseup.com

Edward R. Murrow: “Who owns the patent on this vaccine?”
Dr. Jonas Salk: “Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”—See It Now, 12 April 1955

[Paul Andrews]

That's essentially what I use, and a dymo or brother labeler, except for the big ones, and they stay in boxes on a shelf with the contents written on them in sharpie on all sides.

[liam bartosiewicz]

For smaller tubes, I use standard 7/9 pin miniature tube boxes, and for the larger ones, I have both found cardboard boxes, and modified boxes to better fit the tubes. I keep all of the boxes inside an ikea cardboard box, but it’s pretty unorganized.

On Mar 23, 2022, at 2:45 PM, Paul Andrews <pa...@nixies.us> wrote:

That's essentially what I use, and a dymo or brother labeler, except for the big ones, and they stay in boxes on a shelf with the contents written on them in sharpie on all sides.

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[Richard Scales]

I was fortunate to pick up an old plan chest which is basically lots of deep and wide draws but the draws are not that tall.

Each shelf is lined with polystyrene and tubes push in to the polystyrene - or lay flat - or in boxes. Lots of tubes in a single footprint.

 - Richard

[gregebert]

Metal ammo boxes. Very unlikely they will get crushed, and might even survive a fire.

[Bogdan Paduraru]

I am using 5 liter / 10 liter boxes as below :

https://www.emag.ro/set-10-buc-cutie-depozitare-pantofi-cu-capac-5-litri-foxbox-transparent-clips-inchidere-kb05010/pd/DKPC2YMBM/

I have boxes per manufacturer and per Numerical or Symbol /letter

[Frank Bemelman]

Try searching for a drawing cabinet, 2nd hand perhaps...

Those tend to be excellent quality.

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Vriendelijke groeten,

Frank Bemelman

Frank Techniek

Vennestraat 11X

2161LE  Lisse

Telefoon +31 252 769 178

[Robert G. Schaffrath]

Ammo boxes are good for protecting from typical crushing and water but will not protect from fire. If you ever examine a real fireproof box sold for important papers (I have one I bought at Staples years ago), they have very thick sides and are quite heavy. And they have a rating on how long they will stand up to an intense fire.

My late grandfather stored his stamp and coin collection in very large ammo boxes solely to protect from water and smoke damage in the event of a fire in my grandparents apartment. He realized that fireproof storage was way to prohibitive (and heavy) to have in their residence. Plus in most fires, the actual fire damage is localized with the majority of damage being from the hundreds, if not thousands, of gallon of water and smoke.

[Mac Doktor]

On Mar 24, 2022, at 11:40 AM, Richard Scales <ric...@scalesweb.co.uk> wrote:

I was fortunate to pick up an old plan chest which is basically lots of deep and wide draws but the draws are not that tall.

Each shelf is lined with polystyrene and tubes push in to the polystyrene - or lay flat - or in boxes. Lots of tubes in a single footprint.

And

On Mar 24, 2022, at 2:06 PM, Frank Bemelman <beme...@franktechniek.nl> wrote:

Try searching for a drawing cabinet, 2nd hand perhaps...

Those tend to be excellent quality.

This would be an elegant solution. I have a small Letraset cabinet for storing sheets of dry transfer rub-on letters. It may have been used for retail sale. If I had several more it would take care of the small stuff.

Thanks to everyone for your replies. Many of us are in the same boat.

Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"

https://www.astarcloseup.com

“...the book said something astonishing, a very big thought. The stars, it said, were suns but very far away. The Sun was a star but close up.”—Carl Sagan, "The Backbone Of Night", Cosmos, 1980