High Density wrench storage - 66 in 1 Drawer

[Rust Heap]

First thread for me so be gentle guys.

I couldn't stand having my wrenches spread out over 3 drawers any more. So here is my standard Craftsman toolbox drawer with 66 wrenches in it. I looked at all the solutions I could think of and foam was the only way to go. I know I cheated the number a little with the 10 mini ig. wrench pack in there.

Image is from my free cell phone but I can get more pics tomorrow.
I am an aircraft mechanic so I'm blessed to only need SAE stuff

Included is:
1/4 - 1 Craftsman Combo
3/8 - 1 1/4 Snap on/Mac/Cornwell/Armstrong Angle wrenches
3/8 - 3/4 Gearwrench Flex
1/4 - 3/4 SK G-Pro splines
5/16 - 5/8 Reversible Ratcheting
3/8 - 3/4 Stanley stubby (always said I'd get a nice stubby set when these broke and 11 years later they are still kicking)
13/64 - 7/16 Armstrong Ignition wrenches (same as Cman but I liked the blue pouch)

I've got space to fill in the 4 wrenches I need to complete the Flex and reversible wrench sets.

 

[spity]

Very nice. I dont know if I have the patience to cut out all the foam. Where did you source the foam?

Heres my 80+ and counting with harbor freight magnets and coiled wire both ideas stolen from the GJ. I wish I only had to buy SAE, its 1 set of each for me.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

We need close up pictures with all the wrenches OUT of the drawer to understand (steal the idea & claim it as our own) how you did it!

 

[Chrislols]

Where can I buy wrench racks? (kinda like straight strips (2pc?)).

I see a lot of people use the same thing for stubbies and normals, just a little strip with notches in it, that you can move closer or together.

 

[canuckian]

Tidy wrench drawer you have there! Kinda need the foam I guess in your profession. Never good when there's tools missing after working on aircraft! Lol
Just counted my wrenches(never thought to count them before!) and I have 74 in my box plus a dozen crows feet, 51 in my cart with another set of 7 scattered across my bench. Also have 2 sets of 9 snappy sae and metric enroute to me at the moment. They'll just replace smaller, cheaper sets I have in the cart though. I use either the holders the wrenches came in or the snap on rails for mine.

 

[canuckian]

Where can I buy wrench racks? (kinda like straight strips (2pc?)).

I see a lot of people use the same thing for stubbies and normals, just a little strip with notches in it, that you can move closer or together.

Snap on or Ernst are the ones I know of.

 

[geologist]

I couldn't stand having my wrenches spread out over 3 drawers any more.

I have a similar problem:

Here are my metric Craftsman RPs (22mm to 4mm) with a set of Kobalt stubbys:

I don't have the standard sized wrenches yet, but I've got a drawer devoted just to them. However, higher in the toolbox, I currently have a section occupied by my Kobalt crossform wrenches:

Plus, I've got a drawer specifically for adjustable wrenches:

All of the silver wrenches are Craftsman, except the ratcheting adjustable wrench, which is a Stanley-Bostitch. The black wrenches are Diamond Horseshoe Diamalloy wrenches in 12" and 8" variants. I bought them for $1 each, cleaned them up, and recoated them.

 

[Rust Heap]

The foam I got from work. It is dark grey on top and black on the bottom layer. Not the high contrast I have Blk/Yellow for the other drawers but waaaaaay more free!

I had an idea of using a C channel or the rail that upper kitchen cabinets are hung from and bolts or something in the channel for adjusting for size. The cost would have been $40 or so and I'm too cheap to gamble that on just a theory. And I would have had to go to IKEA.....bad news around Christmas unless you like standing in line to checkout for hours.

Like this

 

[Rust Heap]

I had the Northern tool wrench rack drawer organizer thing. I don't know why they put in a space for allen wrenches and the ignition wrenches don't stay in the rack if you move the tool box around. Works fine if you use SAE and MM and box stays put.

spity - I like the magnet idea, do they stand up ok or do they flop over easy? Do you think it could impart some magnetism into the wrench? And would that be a pro or a con?

 

[Kent Skinner]

I have a similar problem:

Here are my metric Craftsman RPs (22mm to 4mm) with a set of Kobalt stubbys:

I'm not criticizing you; I have the same problem.
This just seems like a huge waste of space to have wrenches laid out like that.

What kind of wrench holders are people using? I just don't have the drawer space to lay out everything flat. I don't have a drawer to only hold 6 adjustable wrenches.

What works?

 

[Outlawmws]

I like the racks that hold the wrenches at about 45 degrees. you can easily spot a size, and the fit the drawer, even shallow drawers easily. thin sheet metal, used to be everywhere... D&J tools. holds 12 wrenches

My SAE wrench drawer hold 80 (Made me count) wrenches, including the ignition wrenches, and two nut splitters. - Two of the racks, the rest lay flat in stacks of 2 (Larger) or are anchored with 1X3X 5/16 magnet blocks to keep them from drifting.

Edit: Drawer is in a 27" wide X 18" deep box

 

[pipsters]

I found the below to be the best solution. I also stacked everything below 10mm and 3/8" in a corner, because I don't really use small wrenches. The small ones were easy to just stack and go thru when the time comes.

In this drawer:

Craftsman RP 43 pc wrench set 12 pointers up to 32mm and 1-5/16"
Craftsman RP 7-19mm 6 point set
Craftsman RP 1/4"-7/8" 6 point set
Craftsman polished deep offset 8-23mm set
Craftsman polished deep offset 1/4"-15/16" set
Craftsman 10" & 12" adjustable
Craftsman/Danaher Crowsfoot set
Craftsman/SK Flare nut crowsfoot set
Gearwrench small set (only thing in drawer not made in the US)
Pipe wrench
Allen wrenches (getting some Bondus for Xmas)

You'd think it would make it tough to access the wrenches but it's actually really easy, and they keep their places for the most part. My most used is by far the 10-19 RP and 1/2", 3/4", and 15/16" SAE sizes.

 

[Danglerb]

More picts of the foam with wrenches in/out, plus maybe a side shot so we can tell what kind of foam it is.

I was thinking of taking about 4" strip of metal and cutting slots on each side to make "fingers" a touch wider than a wrench sideways, then bend the fingers up on a 45 degree angle. Guessing a lot of trimming to make it practical.

Since I rarely guess the correct size I need, I tend to grab three at a time and hope I get lucky.

 

[dwm]

I kinda like mine laid flat in a 2" drawer, but to each his own. My Toptul GPAW2601 drawer (6mm - 30mm, 32mm).

 

[DynoDale]

10 sets of metric combination wrenches in a 2" deep drawer:

 

[ARAMP1]

A wrench rack is where it's at.

 

[blue dog]

10 sets of metric combination wrenches in a 2" deep drawer:
[/IMG]

DynoDale, can we see the king of all screwdriver drawers again ? tool **** at its best.

 

[DynoDale]

DynoDale, can we see the king of all screwdriver drawers again ? tool **** at its best.

They're still in the screwdrivers thread:
http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32787&page=2
Snap-on by color:
http://garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=939801&postcount=233

I bought a few more, but no new pictures yet.

 

[geologist]

I'm not criticizing you; I have the same problem. This just seems like a huge waste of space to have wrenches laid out like that.

Currently, yes. I'm working on designing a new layout so that the metrics will be on one side and the standards on the other, with the stubbys and crossforms in there as well so that I can consolidate all of them to a single drawer. I've only got them laid out like that because I haven't yet made holders for them. The adjustable wrenches are in the shallowest drawer. I'm working out of this chest which I got on sale on Black Friday.

 

[WR250F]

Other wrench drawers look essentially the same. I tried using wrench racks etc and none allowed the density or flexibility of the coiled wire.

Maybe not the most high end solution, but it damned sure works well.

Thanks to whomever posted this idea first.

View media item 14305
View media item 14304

 

[Danglerb]

Wow, that coiled wire does look like it works great. Maybe even clip the ends to the drawer for more stability?

 

[WR250F]

I thought about doing that, but the wrenches are stable and tacking the ends down eliminates the option of clipping the coil where you need to in order for something else to fit.

I used 10 gauge solid conductor wire.

Put one end in a vise, and used a piece of 1" PVC scrap to 'walk' the wire in as I wrapped it around the PVC, keeping the wraps good and tight as I went..

The end result was a coil of wire

Just make sure to keep it pulled tight when wrapping around the PVC (or whatever you have on hand).

I drilled a small hole in the PVC to act as a keeper for the end of the wire as I wrapped it, so it was simple to keep the wraps tight

This wasn't my idea, I think many here use the same arrangement, but, it's cheap, it works and it's flexible enough to move things around if I need to.

I tried several wrench racks. Either they wouldn't hold all the wrenches in a series, they were flimsy, expensive or just wasted too much space for my liking.

Ghetto, maybe, but I'm 110% happy with this setup

ETA: the drawers in the pics are 16 deep x 23 wide x 2 high

 

[theoldwizard1]

I come from the school of "a messy desk is the sign of a creative mind !" It carried over to my tool box.

I have 1 drawer for SAE and 1 for metric. The SAE has doubles of most (6 and 12 point combination) pkus a few stubbies and a few box ends. The metric only has 12 point combos plus my "metric" adjustable wrenches. I have to admit yesterday it took my a minute or 3 to find both 5/8" wrenches. If I could get both in 1 drawer it would be outstanding !

 

[dudutzu905]

here's my wrench drawer, all metric, about 70 pieces not including the crows feet
and btw that's a 36"x17" drawer
sorry the ****** cellphone picture

 

[Jeff]

I have a 26" chest. 60 wrenches. It serves me well.

 

[csmitty]

I've done coiled wire as well as I steal dads scrap irrigation valve wire. It works well and I stilll use it some. I switched to some racks as well and a few Ernst gripper's as well. Still not 100% happy but its ever evolving anyways. Its ok for now.

Larger double box's had to go in a deeper drawer and some RP's

Can't wait to get a KRL one day. would love some 29" D drawers.

 

[Lil Toe]

I'd say just get a bigger drawer, but I filled this one and still have two smaller ones full of wrenches too:

 

[outcast99]

I kinda like mine laid flat in a 2" drawer, but to each his own. My Toptul GPAW2601 drawer (6mm - 30mm, 32mm).

This is VERY clean in my opinion. I hate racks, they take too long to unhook the wrench and get what you need.

 

[Catamount]

I still think these are ideal. Strong magnets in the bottom keep them in place in your drawer and the wrench in place in it's place.

But at $30/ea I'm not sure I can bring myself to throw down for them yet. I wish they made one 32" long with labels so you could make your own layout. I might make one out of wood with those large HF magnets that someone else posted earlier in this thread.

This guy did something similar:

 

[Kent Skinner]

I've done coiled wire as well as I steal dads scrap irrigation valve wire. It works well and I stilll use it some. I switched to some racks as well and a few Ernst gripper's as well. Still not 100% happy but its ever evolving anyways. Its ok for now.

Great thread, with plenty of good ideas.

And it looks like you've been reading the "hot deals" thread. I just got those same Wiha screwdrivers in the mail, and that looks like an SK flex head 1/2" ratchet.

Part of my problem now is that my tool chest has been outgrown. I'm in the design stage of building a 36"x30" and a 30"x30" box, with plenty of shallow drawers.

 

[littletoes]

I still think these are ideal. Strong magnets in the bottom keep them in place in your drawer and the wrench in place in it's place.

But at $30/ea I'm not sure I can bring myself to throw down for them yet. I wish they made one 32" long with labels so you could make your own layout. I might make one out of wood with those large HF magnets that someone else posted earlier in this thread.

I'd like to try those too, just didn't realize they were $30 apiece!

Surprised HF doesn't make something like those. I know S'O sales the exact same thing, but with their name on it (That tells me that neither manufacture actually makes 'em!).

 

[Catamount]

Well, I think this IS the generic version:

http://www.goapesonline.com/productdetails.asp?cat=Trays&ID=2016&pID=18168

At $30, it's about 25% less than the SO or Matco version. I'd like to have my own built, in longer lengths and with adjustable labels.

 

[littletoes]

I like the looks of them, very clean, and with the wrenches held on edge, it doesn't take up as much room.
And I need to save space where I can.

Springs look kinda gaudy to me, maybe not so much with a smaller diameter spring, like the old screen door types, just have to pull 'em apart a bit...not sure on that one.

 

[csmitty]

Great thread, with plenty of good ideas.

And it looks like you've been reading the "hot deals" thread. I just got those same Wiha screwdrivers in the mail, and that looks like an SK flex head 1/2" ratchet.

Part of my problem now is that my tool chest has been outgrown. I'm in the design stage of building a 36"x30" and a 30"x30" box, with plenty of shallow drawers.

Haha, well those Wiha's were the long ones, when they were on sale from Carbide. Not the striking ones, which I still want to get. But I don't even have a place for those long ones, or the SO HH I just got

That is the SK though. I was actually the OP on that one.

Yes there are alot of hot deals in my tool box. I've got to stay away from it. Already need a bigger tool box. Prob just convert one of my smaller vidmars to a roll cart though.

 

[csmitty]

Well, I think this IS the generic version:

http://www.goapesonline.com/productdetails.asp?cat=Trays&ID=2016&pID=18168

At $30, it's about 25% less than the SO or Matco version. I'd like to have my own built, in longer lengths and with adjustable labels.

While those are really slick and I do like them (don't have any) I see it, for me, being like the Hansen socket trays. While really nice and handy. Locks you into the configuration. Just no adjustability to it. Then I feel like I HAVE to fill that empty 1/4dr 9/16 socket peg. See the same going for the wrench racks. So if you will never buy another wrench and you have all the slots filled. I think its perfect.

 

[TTA579]

L channel + slots cut into the back side, laid down on it's edges like an "A". Paint/Powdercoat/Label to your hearts desire. Make them any length.

Enjoy. Free engineering provided by TTA579.

 

[StumpXJ]

This is what I use. I get a fair amount of wrenches in there, and its easy to see whats missing.

They are long lengths of foam cut outs that have a sticky backing you peel off and put them where ever you want. Forgot where I got them, sears maybe.

 

[Outlawmws]

Similar to what I use for racks, I couldn't even find the company that made mine...

http://usatoolsinc.com/15piecebluewrenchrack.aspx

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Great ideas in here.


The pic below is very cool. A spin off of this that might be easy to produce is a wood block version. You can either do it to hold the ends like this (maybe with a router and a jig for the right widths of slots). Or a block of wood meant to hold the middle ofthe wrench. Just saw out the slots with a table saw or miter saw, even a router. Kinda tedious, but easier to work with than metal

Another idea I was kicking around is mounting nuts, one of each size, in order along a rod. Add a block at each end to hold up the nut off the drawer. The open end of the wrench slides on the nut for storage. Obviously, another work intensive project. But unique. Don't know how great it would work though.

I liked dwm's arrangement so ran out and tried it. Left the end wrenches to show the space gained. Not a huge amount but for some it could be the difference in getting them all in flat

 

[Rust Heap]

I will get more pics of the foam I used on saturday. I ended up getting sent to Iowa to fix a plane there and didn't get a chance to take some good pics.

The coiled wire idea is cool and I would have probably tried it if I hadn't gotten the foam for free. It wasn't hard to cut, just used a dremel with a drywall rotozip bit. Tile grout bit is recommended thru google search but I didn't have one of those.

Its hard to be a cheap **** and **** retentive at the same time!