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Tungsten.Chromium
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Glassware Organization
Since I started building my home lab I've been wrapping my glass pieces in bubble wrap and stuffing them into a storage tote the best I can.
It wasn't bad when I only had a few pieces of glass, but now that I have build up a decent little collection, digging through the tote for one piece
is starting to get old. I wanted to see how everyone here has their glass menagerie sorted (or how they'd like to have it) and hopefully find a
better method then this digging around.
Prosit!
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smaerd
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Mood: hmm...
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I fill cardboard boxes with the top cut open with styrofoam pellets. I put condensers in one box, flasks in another, etc. I store the boxes on
shelves. Makes life a lot easier 
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aga
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Mine are all hung on the walls so i can easily find them, similar to how you see tools stuck onto the wall of a well organised tool shed or garage.
The 'walls' are covered with hardboard, so i just used some wood screws with big washers to support the glass.
The shed is very small, so there's not a lot of spare wall space - even the sides of the fume hood have glassware on them.
RBFs etc are hanging by large long screws which were screwed into the hardboard at an angle.
This also helps dry them after washing.
Edit:
The screws support the weight, the big washers stop the glass falling forwards even when the walls are vibrating, as they do in the high winds here in
winter..
[Edited on 30-6-2015 by aga]
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Zombie
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I am going a similar route to Aga.
Poly-carbonate dowels at an angle on a piece of Formica counter top mounted to the wall above my sink area.
For odd items that won't hang I will use a glass front wine cooler. Like a mini fridge. I have a two door cooler that is for chemical storage on the
bottom, and a desiccation chamber on top.
I like to see what I have. Same for the workshops... Everything in the open.
They tried to have me "put to sleep" so I came back to return the favor.
Zom.
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Texium
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I have all of my glassware stored on shelves in my bedroom and bathroom for lack of space in my lab. I bought cork rings to hold all of my larger
RBF's. Some of the smaller pieces, like my 14/20 stuff, stoppers, and my 25 and 50 mL flasks and beakers are stored inside little drawer units that I
bought at The Container Store, which sit on the shelves with everything else. I also got some hooks to mount my condensers on the wall next to my
desk, which makes a nice display.
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Zombie
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We should just all go to prison forever.
Walking into a house full of lab glass is somehow WORSE than a house full of guns, and animal heads.
Quoting my favorite scene from a movie... "Where's the rest of that moose?"
~Arthur~
They tried to have me "put to sleep" so I came back to return the favor.
Zom.
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Tungsten.Chromium
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I don't really have anywhere I can setup walls for hanging stuff right now, but I do like your system aga. Maybe get or build myself a little storage
shed to put on the side of the garage for all my chemistry stuff. Since I'm a broke ass college student however, that could be a while.
Today I got everything out, took an inventory, and rearranged the stuff into different boxes (and 3 hard-cases ) based on category and usage frequency.
First box I filled was full of stuff like my hot plate, small heat mantle, scale, pestle/mortar, bunchner funnel, thermometers, ect. Stuff that isn't
glass and used a lot.
The second box (I call it the beaker box), consisted of beakers, Erlenmeyers, crystallizing dishes, media bottles, graduated cylinders, and a few
filter flasks. Commonly used glass
The storage tote was filled up with all round/flat bottoms, adapters, condensers, and other random pieces with joint sizes over 14/20
Two of the Three hard cases hold distillation setups with the third being used to hold random small pieces I don't plan on using soon.
Everything left was put in a second, larger storage tote and set in the back of the closet with the third hard case.
I'll upload after pics tomorrow
[Edited on 1-7-2015 by Tungsten.Chromium]
Prosit!
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Tungsten.Chromium
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Also Zombie, but if you look closely, you can see an animal head in the background 
Prosit!
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Praxichys
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I use cabinets and shelves, but those are expensive and fill up fast. I hate shelves and pegboard because the labware collects dust really fast, and
it leaves glass exposed, just waiting for an expensive accident. This particular cabinet is shimmed to lean back so flasks don't roll off shelves.
I pretty much have to be running something all the time or I can't fit all the glass into the cabinet. The top of the lab fridge is also full, and I
have some miscellaneous stuff on other shelves too. I need a better solution.
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crazyboy
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I keep most of my glass stored in milk crates, no foam or newspaper or anything just carefully stacked. It's separated into different crates depending
on how often I use it and I have one just for large items. It isn't the most convenient system but I have a lot of glass and not a lot of space to
store it. The ideal method is just to have spacious drawers where you can lay it all without having to stack stuff on top of each other.
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aga
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Wood, nails & walls people : use up all the available surface area.
Here's a tiny Nook that was just useless blank wall space, and now holds:-
a 300ml liebig condenser
a 200ml liebig condenser
a 250ml FBF
two still heads
a 24/29 thermometer adapter
a vac adapter
a 100ml addition funnel
a Claisen head
two porcelain crucible supports
and a dean-stark trap.
Shed space is very limited, so even the roof support joists have been used to store the 1m long upright rods for the apparatus support structure.
Edit:
I just realised that the bit behind the paper towel thing could have as much again if i cut some wood to fit there ....
[Edited on 2-7-2015 by aga]
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smaerd
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I like seeing how everyone else is doing this. When I own a home I'm definitely going to do the peg board type thing.
@Aga - you're too hard on yourself on the forums. I know its for jokes. First thing I thought when I saw that picture was "someone is doing some real
science".
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aga
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Fact is that i'm not doing Enough Science, nor learning much as a consequence.
Real Life gets in the way all of the time, and i find that immensely frustrating.
I would much prefer to wake up in the morning and decide what I want to do, yet every day there are Other demands on my time that prevent that.
Some stuff happens in the Shed, and it gives me great pleasure when it all works out as expected/calculated, and even more when it doesn't.
Whatever your situation at any given time, make it an inviolate Policy that you must have some time each day to do at least a small part of what You
wish to do.
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100PercentChemistry
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I just have two shelves. One for glassware and one for equipment. I keep them in boxes so they don't fall off. For the bigger glassware I just keep it
standing upright.
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szuko03
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I find I use the same pieces 90% of the time so I have those in their own box wrapped in bubble wrap. I then have a box stored in the closet full of
spare boiling flasks as I bought 14 of the same sized round bottom flask for a great deal on ebay. Then I have a large box full of everything else
again bubble wrapped and carefully stored. I probably have 40 different pieces of glass some of it in the original boxes, those just get kept in the
closet in the box.
But honestly as long as I have the measuring, distillation, and funnels in quick reach my lesser used stuff can sit in a secure part of the closet
wrapped up well. The last thing I want is noticeable chemistry equipment out in the actual open part of the house, dont get me wrong it makes me sad
thats somehow questionable but its strange to "normal people." If you go into the places work or store it sure its noticeable but the only people that
should be in those spaces are me. Dont get me wrong there is a 1000mL flat bottom that doubles as a vase sometimes but thats hardly something anyone
would notice 
Chemistry is a natural drive, not an interest.
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Neuro-
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My collection is relatively small as well as my space so I just keep basic glassware in two of these: http://platters.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Foam-Box-e... and other things like condensers on the lid.
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carrant
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For smaller RBFs I use a Christmas ornament box - they fit very nice! I have started using scraps or square pieces of foam board in the junctions to
prevent the necks from rolling around. If I didn't have to stack the ornament boxes, I would take the top off and use the box like an array of cork
stands.
For larger RBFs I use a plastic box with a piece of 1/2" foam board with cut outs for the flask to sit in.
For stoppers, stir bars, stirring rods, and spoons I use fishing storage boxes.
For condensers and adapters (and most other hardware) I use two stacked toolboxes with drawers.
     
  
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aga
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Are they all new and unused or are you a particularly clean and tidy person ?
Can't see any dog or cat hairs anywhere.
Maybe i'm just a filthy tramp.
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carrant
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@aga - if that question was for me then no on both accounts.
No new glassware in those pics. All the glassware is used from eBay and Dr. Bob.
When a package arrives I do give it a deep cleaning, but I must say that everything from Dr. Bob has arrived extremely clean.
Now I do buy stirring rods new because I can't seem to stop breaking them.
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aga
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Aha ! A fellow recycler of broken glass stirring rods ?
I snap them up and make boiling chips, then eventually lose the chips.
Always buy at least 10 glass stirring rods each time.
Buy just 2 teflon ones (ever).
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carrant
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@aga I recycle many glass stirring rods - I "recycled" two today!
I've thought about snapping them into boiling chips, but I generally toss them in the waste bucket as I'm reaching for another one.
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100PercentChemistry
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I've never thought of that before. I could of had a use for all my broken rods.
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Dr.Bob
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Carrant, your neatness creates a hostile work environment for me...
I wish someone would organize my stuff that well. I try, but am not very neat. I do, however, have some plastic drawer organizers left, from
Spectrum, that would work well for someone with drawers to organize. If anyone is interested, let me know, I mostly have some large ones, like the
ones below, in several types, the photos show some of the styles.
https://www.fishersci.com/shop/products/spectrum-drawer-gani...
I have some of the larger, squarish ones, about 17.5" x 19.5" x 2.5" deep. I'd sell them cheap, but they are large and bulky, so it would be best to
ship a few at a time, not just one.
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ave369
Eastern European Lady of Mad Science
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Quote: Originally posted by aga  | Aha ! A fellow recycler of broken glass stirring rods ?
I snap them up and make boiling chips, then eventually lose the chips.
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As my experience tells me, snapped stirring rods make crappy boiling chips. 36% H2SO4 + snapped stirring rods = Donbass in a flask.
Smells like ammonia....
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S.C. Wack
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Glass does not work as boiling stones. Smash a flowerpot or porcelain tile.
Obviously carrant has it together...but you could just simplify with newspaper, and stacking multiple boxes. I love the old wire-hinged hard plastic
stacking totes, but copy paper boxes and original packaging have their place. The size of my boxes depends on the size of the 10-20 glass or not items
in them.
19/22 glass is not fragile at all if you're careful IME, and it's kept loose in cases without wrapping because IDK what else to do, having tried a few
things in the past and devolving to this.
[Edited on 10-4-2016 by S.C. Wack]
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