I used to use open boxes but I found that the tubes (and anything else I
stored that way) got too dusty. I am in the process of converting to closed
boxes. Fortunately, I work in a factory where they use the same parts over
and over so I have a good source of several sizes of identical boxes. That
still leaves the problem of where to put the boxes.

I sort my tubes similarly to the way you do except that I put all of the
same type together regardless of what type envelope they have (unless there
are too many to fit in one box). I also group similar types together, for
example, 50C5 and 50B5 share the same box.

As for finding them, I set up a spreadsheet that shows all the types I have
along with interesting variations (6H6 round top vs. 6H6 flat top). Various
columns show how many I have of each type and the number of the first type
on the label of the box they are in. I also have a column listing if I want
any more of each type. This saves a lot of time when a sale list comes
around.

--
Jim Mueller

To get my real email address, replace wrongname with eportiz. Then replace
nospam with sacbeemail.

"Jeffrey D Angus" wrote in message
...
It's a perenial question. Once you acquire a big enough pile,
how do you have the slightest idea of what you actually have
and how do you go about finding something when you need it?

This is part one of the solution. a 36" wide 12" shelf with
13 shelves full of cardboard bin boxes. I'm going to have to
order two more shelf units to hold everything here.

As usual, first they get sorted by shape and size. 4-pin
balloon, 4-pin ST, loctal, metal, octal, rectifiers and
so forth. Then as the boxes fill up, "Oh, look, I have 25
or so 6SK7 tubes, they get their own box now."

I spent a coupe of days web surfing and the best price I
managed to find was from ULine. $145 for the shelving
unit, and roughly $50-70 per 100 for the bin boxes.

Unfortunately, I was in a bit of a hurry to assemble things
this morning and made the mistake of using a cheap Chinese
screw driver instead of a decent rubber cushioned Klein. I
know have several holes in my hand as a result. (blisters)

But it's kind of fun to know where all the tubes are. I was
rather amazed to find a good Arcturus 45 in the pile, thee
good 2A3s and a couple of ST 47s.

Jeff