It works perfectly...although I have found anything larger than 400 card sets should probably be split into two waves, because it makes your arms tired. Just a single set won't, but when you spend 14 hours in a day doing it, trust me, your arms will be tired.
This set (1990 Maxx, NASCAR) only has 200 cards so it required only two rows. Normally I can't stand to turn a vertical card sideways, but my table is not wide enough, so I had to do it. I would have only been able to get 7 rows otherwise.
After the cards are sorted into 10s, I simply do each stack in order from highest to lowest, so they are stacked nicely face up in numerical order. (190s, 180s, 170s, etc, down to 1-9) I generally do this by hand, not setting the cards down until they are sorted...however, some sets, especially during my heyday, that made it impossible. (For instance, I once counted that I had more than 80 copies of one card). For a set where I have that many duplicates, I have even broken it down into a stack for each number in the unit. It's been a long time since I've done that, long before digital cameras.
This can also be done with years. Instead of 1-9 on the left, it would be 1990. 1991 next to it, 1980 above it, 2000 below it, etc. In this sort, I didn't have any cards from the 70s so that spot is left blank.
I've never timed how long it takes to sort this way. Not very long, but I also don't rush through it. I probably spend more time reading backs of the cards than I do actually sorting. I enjoy the process so, when I start, I go very slow. When I'm nearing the end of a major sorting session, which used to last for weeks and that was 80 thousand cards ago, I usually want it to be done and move onto something else, so I go much quicker.
When I finish scanning everything, get my cards sorted back together by set, and get my sets sorted back into order for the first time since 2004 for the NBA, 2009 for NASCAR and ever for NHL- the whole sort will probably take me months. I HOPE it takes me months.
Interestingly enough, these cards are actually duplicates, and all but 6 of them in this picture are being mailed off to Canada in a trade.
