What goes wrong

It got mixed up, or it got lost

On this page11

Two sizes that look the same Colour-coded and nobody could read it The label was on the lid It was tipped out to find one part The magnets found the screws The bearings were stored damp The fret bent The decals were kept in the light The weathering powder got everywhere The fix is one format repeated References

The failure is almost never the container. It is the system of forty.

Two sizes that look the same

An M2 and an M2.5 screw at arm's length on a white jar lid. The only cure is a label on the body in words, not a code anybody has to remember.

Colour-coded and nobody could read it

Around one in twelve men has a colour vision deficiency. A collection sorted by lid colour alone is unsorted for them, and a letter or a number alongside costs nothing.

The label was on the lid

Lids get swapped when forty jars are open on a bench. The identity belongs on the container.

It was tipped out to find one part

Which is what a narrow mouth forces. A wide jar you can get a finger or a tweezer into does not need emptying, and parts that are never emptied are never lost.

The magnets found the screws

A magnet jar beside a steel parts jar, both opened on the same bench. By the end of a month the screws are magnetised and the magnets are in the wrong jar.

The bearings were stored damp

A precision bearing in a jar that breathes, in a garage, through a winter. It turns roughly and nobody connects it to the storage.

The fret bent

A flat photoetch sheet in a round jar, or loose in a drawer. Bent parts cannot be straightened without breaking and the fret is usually irreplaceable.

The decals were kept in the light

Decal film yellows and the carrier goes brittle. A dark box costs nothing and there is no flat dark storage on this shelf.

The weathering powder got everywhere

A fine pigment in a jar filled to the rim, opened quickly. Fill low, open over a tray, and use a lid that seals flat.

The fix is one format repeated

One jar size, clear, straight sided, labelled on the body in words, in a tray. Almost every failure on this page is prevented by buying the same container forty times.

References

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.

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.

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.