Containers

The small end

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Why a bench needs very small containers And the quantities are genuinely tiny Twelve containers at 30 mL or under The archetype makes it worse What to do with what is here Buy one size and repeat it Clear, so the sort is visible Flat based, because everything gets weighed Lidded, because a bench gets knocked And a tray under the lot References

Twelve. Against solder grades, scrap alloys, findings and stones.

Why a bench needs very small containers

Solder comes in three grades. Scrap sorts by alloy. Findings sort by type and size. Stones sort by everything. Each of those is a container and each holds very little.

And the quantities are genuinely tiny

A working stock of hard solder is a few grams of snipped strip. Putting that in a 250 mL jar means hunting for it in a space it does not fill.

Twelve containers at 30 mL or under

Out of 286. That is the honest count, and for a craft that is mostly a sorting problem it is the number that matters most on this shelf.

The archetype makes it worse

ind-chemical runs 100 to 20,000 mL. The window was written for a chemical store and a jeweller's bench works two orders of magnitude below its bottom end.

What to do with what is here

104 containers at 120 mL or under. Not ideal, and a 60 or 120 mL jar used for solder is workable if it is clear and labelled and lives in a tray.

Buy one size and repeat it

Which is the same conclusion the model parts property reaches: a tray of identical jars is a system, and forty different jars is a search.

Clear, so the sort is visible

89 clear containers. Solder grades and scrap alloys are told apart by eye first, and the label confirms rather than informs.

Flat based, because everything gets weighed

A jar that rocks on a scale pan is a jar you have to hold, and holding it adds your hand to the reading.

Lidded, because a bench gets knocked

A spilled jar of gold filings is a genuine loss rather than a mess. 22 dome lids and 18 lug and twist closures are the quick-but-secure end of the shelf.

And a tray under the lot

Which is not something we sell and is the cheapest improvement available. A spill inside a tray is recoverable; a spill on a workshop floor is swept up with everything else.

References

The Davis Pack Supply catalog, measured 19 October 2026. The jewelry metalwork shelf is 617 rows: 286 containers and 331 closures. 15 mL to 9,464 mL with a median of 237; 12 containers at 30 mL or under, 104 at 120 or under, 214 at a pint or under. 117 PET, 80 PP, 50 glass, 38 HDPE. 224 jars, 41 bottles, 19 tubs and pails, 1 jug, 1 tube. 89 clear, 74 white, 39 natural, 30 amber, 26 black. Closures: 248 continuous thread, 22 dome lids, 18 lug and twist, 12 child resistant, 10 round tubs, 9 liners and sealing discs, 5 phenolic, 5 specialty.

The archetype behind this shelf is ind-chemical: 100 to 20,000 mL, narrow mouth, HDPE and glass, light sensitive, child resistant, poured, with "chemical resistance is the entire decision, check the resin chart first" as its stated reason. It describes the pickle and patina half of the craft and not the metal half, and the shelf disagrees with it: 224 of 286 containers are jars.

Written from 15 U.S.C. 295 and 297, and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. Silver tolerances at 15 U.S.C. 296 were not read for this property and are not summarized. The FTC Jewelry Guides at 16 CFR part 23 govern how jewelry is described and are a separate body of rules. Pickle and patina chemistry is a safety data sheet question and no handling advice is given here.