The products

Building the system

On this page11

The temptation a big catalog creates One size, repeated Then one larger size for the few that need it Straight sided, so the tray packs Clear, so the label is a confirmation rather than the only clue Label on the body, in words And not by colour alone Buy spare lids at the start Leave room to grow And keep the magnets out of it References

Buy the same jar forty times. It is the whole advice and it is the hardest to follow.

The temptation a big catalog creates

646 containers invites choosing the ideal one for each part. That produces a drawer of mismatched jars that do not stack, do not share caps and cannot be scanned at a glance.

One size, repeated

A tray of identical jars reads as a system. The eye finds the odd one out, the hand knows the grip, and a spare lid fits every single one.

Then one larger size for the few that need it

Bulk screws, a big bag of ballast, a part that will not fit. Two sizes covers almost every bench and still behaves as a system.

Straight sided, so the tray packs

Round jars in a rectangular drawer waste the corners. Straight sides and a flat base mean a drawer holds what it looks like it should.

Clear, so the label is a confirmation rather than the only clue

175 clear containers here. You should be able to tell what a jar holds before you read it, and read it to be sure.

Label on the body, in words

Not on the lid, because lids get swapped, and not in a code, because the code lives in your head and the jar outlives your memory of it.

And not by colour alone

Around one in twelve men cannot separate a colour code reliably. A letter or a number beside the colour costs nothing and makes the system legible to anyone.

Buy spare lids at the start

They are the part that gets lost, cracked or left on another jar. A box of spares that fits every container in the system is only possible because the system is one size.

Leave room to grow

A parts collection only ever gets bigger. Buying the tray half full is what stops the next ten parts arriving in whatever was to hand.

And keep the magnets out of it

Separate container, separate shelf, away from the ferrous parts, counted. The one leaf in this group that does not belong in the general system.

References

The Davis Pack Supply catalog, measured 19 October 2026. The model parts and paint shelf is 1,136 rows: 646 containers and 490 closures. 5 mL to 2,000 mL with a median of 118; 25 containers at 15 mL or under, 84 at 30 or under, 183 at 60 or under, 336 at 120 or under, 522 at 250 or under. 351 PET, 117 glass, 100 HDPE, 78 PP. 376 bottles, 255 jars, 13 tubs and pails, 2 tubes. 175 clear, 141 white, 101 amber, 61 blue, 60 natural, 47 black. Closures: 288 continuous thread, 32 disc top, 31 child resistant, 26 spouted, 22 dome lids, 19 lug and twist, 14 phenolic, 13 spice caps, 11 liners and sealing discs, 10 flip top.

The archetype behind this shelf is store-small-dry: 15 to 500 mL, wide mouth, no closure requirement, PP and PET and glass, cold, solid, chunky, scooped, with "small dry parts, wide mouth to get fingers in, clear so you can see what is inside" as its stated reason. Eleven of the twelve leaves are dry parts, so the archetype describes the craft correctly, which is uncommon in this library.

Written from 16 CFR 1501.4 and 16 CFR 1262, and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. No cylinder dimensions appear anywhere in this property, because the rule gives them in a figure rather than in its text. Whether a particular part or magnet passes either test is a determination about that article; we sell the container it is kept in. Whether a kit is a children's product is the four-factor test covered in the resin jewelry property.