Slab Storage

I use 5 gallon plastic buckets with a lid and clear rectangular plastic containers where the top is like a hinge on one side and not a separate piece.

Rubbermaid type clear stack-able storage boxes for me.

Hmm I may have a bit of a pudding stone addiction?



Chuck

Dollar stores carry translucent plastic shoe boxes with lids.

You don't really expect us to believe that a slaba/cabaholic like yourself can store all of their slabs in that one little cabinet do you?

I check craigslist often for cabinets like that but no luck so far. I really want more of a print storage cabinet with large shallow drawers.





Could be a good winter time woodworking project


I used this spinning hardware store nail bin for awhile but did not care for it.


Chuck

Well... not ALL of them I guess I forgot that do have a tuperware container or two of slabs that I'm still iffy on whether I'll cut them up or move them out back. Then there's the tuperware container of slabs that have been marked and are waiting at the trim saw. Then there's usually about a hundred preforms on my workbench that are 'next' to get worked on haha.



I too had been looking for the right solution for several years - I used several things that I didn't like. I spent a lot of money on plastic bins from Home Depot and hated them for preforms almost immediately. Getting that cabinet from Sheri Rockhobbit via Diane drocknut was a game changer on getting me organized. That's an old picture from when I first got it home - now the drawers are labeled and most are about half full and some are hard to close haha.

I have had really good luck storing my rocks in the Sterilite 'Clear View Latch' boxes. They're very sturdy, and can hold a lot of weight without warping. The lids are strong enough that I can stack them reasonably high, as well. Target has them; they're the ones with the purple handles. (There are similar ones, but I find those are the most sturdy.)

The shoebox size runs around $2/each, and the step up from that, which we call the 'boot box' size, are $4/each or so. They're often on sale for less. We store all manner of things in them. To give you some idea, I've unloaded 50lbs of grit into one of the boot size boxes, and it doesn't even start bulging on the sides under the weight. Can pick it up like that without a hint of bulging or buckling, too, or that weird slouch in the middle that makes it feel like the box is about to give or sag.

I really cannot evangelize these things enough; we use them for everything. Shells, travel packing, rocks... you name it. They take a pounding better than any of the clear storage boxes we've used before, and with all the crafts and collections in this house, we've used a lot of different kinds over the years!

I have various permutations of slab storage, but the best is an old card cabinet from a library type application. Mine is 5' high with double stacks of drawers and holds a bunch of slabs. Tool drawers like those used by your mechanic are great with emphasis on the shallow drawers for slabs and cabs and a larger one or two at the bottom more appropriate for rough. Map and blue print cabinets are wonderful but hard to find and expensive when you do even in the used form. For outside storage of slabs and small rough, I use the black plastic tubs that plants come in from the nursery. They have holes to drain themselves, are UV resistant (as opposed to most plastics) and are available in a variety of sizes. I label them with a clothes pen clipped to the top. I hate plastics that rot in the sun - did I say that we have lots of sun in New Mexico?

Comedian:  Guess the ol’ P-Touch don’t come w/SpellCheck, eh?     : )