Spooling my SMD Components on Reels for a Cleaner Workbench

TLDR; How to store SMD components on original or DIY reels and using a reel tape dispenser with a few newly designed (and some old) 3D printed storage parts.

I decided that my workbench and parts bin were becoming too cluttered with components. Too cluttered to handle the work I'd like to do.

And my SMD components were in a bit of an untidy state. Some of the packages were of 1000s of 0805, 0603, and 1206 components on tape but rather than spooled they're loose in bags.

So I've created a 3D printable STL for 9mm, 12mm, and soon 15mm (correction: actually 16mm) SMD component reels. These might help with pick-and-place machine loading as the application I'm tasking them with here. I was shooting for something similar to EIA 481 standard reels.

For my use I've made (also 3D printed) reel holders for the spools that should let me shelf my SMD components up as easily as the through-hole parts. These were from the Thingiverse page linked below; I'm working on 12mm and 15mm variations of everything and will have them posted to GitHub and Thingiverse as soon as they're available.

Since the whole mess is covered under open licenses (that probably doesn't matter with a technical design in any case) feel free to grab a copy and make better versions. Please share them if you do!

Thingiverse Links: 120mm Reel: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4359883 180mm Reel: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4361443 12mm Wide Reel Holder: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4380315 9mm Wide Reel Holder: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3475545

GitHub 3D Designs: https://github.com/Inhibit/3D_Designs

https://PCBurn.com ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfcob1h220s