Any good tricks for storing stringers????

[Grody]

Hi all.

I'm collecting quite range of stringers these days - must have 20-30 different ones at the moment - but I can't work out a good way of storing them. The problem is the "bits" - a tube system sounds OK (although quite expensive when you cost it out) but the shorter bits just get lost at the bottom of the tubes.

Initially, I made a simple shallow tray out of 10mm polystyrene sheet with dividers to hold about 20 different colours. It's light and a bit flimsy but works quite well - you can get hold of both the long and the short lengths with a pair of tweezers - and I can see the all the colours at a glance - but I've outgrown it now.

I could just make a second one but I wondered if anyone has any other tricks for storing them?

TIA

[Magpie]

You will need a whole collection of jam jars.
One for normal stringers, one for black white and clear, one for silver glass, one for stormed silver glass (if you get into that), one for ivory/silvered ivory, And then a shallow one for the really short ones you can't get out of a standard sized jam jar.
Then keep another one for the stringers in the colours you are using that session. It's a real pain if you can't find the colours you want and at least this way I don't pick up purple instead of black, or horror of horrors use psyche thinking it's just plain purple. And I always need black, white and clear, so it's good to have a good stock of them, different thicknesses as well.

[Magpie]

Sorry, forgot, you'll need another one for when you start making twisties.
And if you get into the bullseye colours remember that it's a different coe, so more jars to store that so they don't get mixed up.

[Mary]

I use spice jars.

[Phoenix*]

I've got those graduated tube pencil pots 

[theflyingbedstead]

I use some tall drinks glasses which are fab. Apart from the other excellent suggestions...you could also use those tall pasta jars which might be better as the lid would keep the dust off! 

[♥♥Tan♥♥]

I use a wire rack, I think its meant to loop onto something, I then folded stiff card into short tubes and squeezed them into this rack, voila a storage rack with separate tubes

[poledra1958]

I like pencil holder idea then came to mind loo rolls or kitchen paper roll inders all gued together.  Ah good old blue peter loo rolls and sticky backed plastic.


jenny

[LittleHen]

I have mine in an old wooden cutlery tray the different sections for different lengths as i'm not that organised I tend to just make them for the session and store the leftovers but I like the idea of filing them into categories.
If I was mega organised I'd file them with the glass they were made from but most people seem to go for the jar option.

[garishglobes]

Jam jars here too

[Kaz]

Stringers are like sunday dinner leftovers, you put them in the fridge til Thursday and then chuck them away!!! Since I had a lesson with Lorna, I only keep silvered ivory stringers and the rest are made when needed, kept til the end of the week and then chucked in the bin !!! Life's too short to mix up effetre black and hades!!!
Kazx

[garishglobes]

Ah....but mine are boro stringers and I keep every last mm
When I have too many, I twist 'em all together and make spacers, or swipe them down a rod and make a seahorse.

I don't know, maybe that works in soft glass too? Stripes of random colour down a rod, melted in and twisted. Interesting and random twisties?

[beadysam]

Mine are in cheap glasses from Ikea, and I put any murrini, encased stringer or stringers/twisties  of other COE's in old Pringles tubes.  I use a cuttlery tray for sorting my twisties.  Fancy in one, transparent in another, opaque in another and all the short bits go in the small sections at the end.

I seperate my stringer into colour groups, but also have glasses for things like very reactive stringer, CG, Rubino, OY and IB, and then another for silver glass too.

I mainly use all my ends up as I work but the ones I don't use go in a tub and then when I'm ready to pull twisties I just use up the ends.  I'm trying to save for a pot melt but I'm too stingy and use up all my ends! LOL

[SueP]

Raided the charity shops today for pottery mugs and jars 'cos I'm a bit fed up withall the jam jars also found a little bud vase thingy that will do for a few shorts.

[sea-thistle]

I use jam jars as well, big ones. My frit are in jars from Ikea, that come in sets of 3/4