[hagbard_c]

Remember those old-time electronic components shops with a bazillion of small drawers from which they extracted that BC547C you happened to need to repair that garage door opener? I use more or less the same, racks with small drawers where parts of a feather flock together. Some are quite organised - resistors in order of value, one multiplier colour band per drawer - while others are more haphazardly distributed. I have loads of parts which I took from deceased equipment meant to be used to repair other things, some of those parts going back to when I was in high school and scrounged broken television sets from the curb side to repair or raid for parts. I also use a stack of wooden boxes containing tin cans containing larger parts - ESP boards, sensor boards, patch cables etc. All in all this fills a few cubic metres of space, mostly in and around my work area but some of it in the barn. I have a good memory and tend to remember where I put something so I'm not using much of a philosophy when organising things.

I read some reactions in the style of 'toss most of it and buy it when you need it' but those strike me as odd; one of the big advantages of having a comprehensive parts supply is that you can repair most equipment when needed without being dependent on external suppliers. The mere fact that parts are 'cheap' does not make them 'worthless', the cheap transistor in your drawer is worth a lot more than the one in the warehouse when you need it.