Homemade toolchest wrench rack

[dwasifar]

Couldn't find a commercial wrench rack that suited me. I didn't want something I had to pull on to get the wrenches out, and a lot of the commercial racks have online reviews that say they don't work well with Craftsman wrenches. So I'm making my own:

Nice heavy <s>oak</s> ash, stays put in the drawer when I pick up a wrench. Cost me nothing but time. Tomorrow I'll make two more for other wrench sets.

 

[American Locomotive]

No clearance problems in the toolbox drawer?

 

[dwasifar]

No clearance problems in the toolbox drawer?

Nope:

 

[2oolhound]

You could lay a piece of wood in the bottom of the groove for the smaller wrenches. That way they would all sit up to the same height and may be easier to grab.

Nice job. Are you going to finish them with old engine oil?

 

[Ohmthis]

I've thought about making something similar. The only thing that has stopped me is I have a lot of wrenches. That would take me a good while and I'm not sure they would fit right. I may experiment with some cheap plywood before stepping up to nice solid stock. You did a great job on that.

 

[dwasifar]

You could lay a piece of wood in the bottom of the groove for the smaller wrenches. That way they would all sit up to the same height and may be easier to grab.

Nice job. Are you going to finish them with old engine oil?

The grooves are actually different depths for the different wrenches. On the first (smallest) two I was still "finding my groove", so to speak, so they're a little deeper than I intended.

If I don't finish them with something they'll get an old engine oil finish by default over time, I guess. Maybe some poly would be in order.

I've thought about making something similar. The only thing that has stopped me is I have a lot of wrenches. That would take me a good while and I'm not sure they would fit right. I may experiment with some cheap plywood before stepping up to nice solid stock. You did a great job on that.

Thanks. My experiments were done on a scrap of 2x4. After the first two wrenches I learned that it was best to cut a depth test groove for each wrench in the scrap before moving to the work piece.

 

[StillTooManyHobbies]

Where is your 11/16"?

 

[dwasifar]

Where is your 11/16"?

In another set. I started with the small set.

Really I don't have a lot of use for the SAE wrenches anymore. Both cars are metric, and around the house almost everything can be done with a socket set or a crescent wrench.

 

[Jon_E]

That's really starting from scratch LOL a piece of firewood!

Nice job. BTW that's ash, not oak.

 

[bcradio]

Make sure and mark the wood rack for easy size ID

 

[dwasifar]

That's really starting from scratch LOL a piece of firewood!

Nice job. BTW that's ash, not oak.

Huh. It was in with my oak stacks, but I guess it's possible something got mixed up. I've restacked a few times.

edit: Ha! The chainsaw cut at the end should have tipped me off to that! I remember those logs. My arborist friend down the street gave them to me after his guys took down an ash and a silver maple. His guys had cut them to about 22" length, which was longer than I needed them, so I made a couple of crosswise end cuts into them before cutting off the extra length, so as to get firewood-sized chunks out of the scrap rather than one big puck.

 

[EOC_Jason]

That's cool but way too time consuming for me...

I saw something like this that I'll probably do one day when I re-organize my wrenches...

 

[dwasifar]

That's cool but way too time consuming for me...

I saw something like this that I'll probably do one day when I re-organize my wrenches...

That's a really good idea, actually.

 

[dwasifar]

Now this one is oak for sure:

 

[ChaseDE]

looks cool, like someone else said above, >I< would label the sizes there on the wood for easy ID

 

[dwasifar]

looks cool, like someone else said above, >I< would label the sizes there on the wood for easy ID

I might, after I get some poly on them.

 

[Wamsutta]

The only thing I don't like about the idea is you can't grab the wrench by the center; you have to grab it by one end or the other.

 

[PRND3L]

Nice job! That's slick.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[dwasifar]

The only thing I don't like about the idea is you can't grab the wrench by the center; you have to grab it by one end or the other.

Funny you should say that. The original plan was to dado a groove down the middle for just that reason. I decided not to, partly because it turned out not to be terribly difficult to pick a wrench out without it, and partly because it turns out my old adjustable dado head is too wide for the arbor of my table saw.

 

[nine4gmc]

Awesome job!

 

[dale500]

I like the wood a lot but it would not give me enough pack-out. I'm a big fan of the wire idea. You can make them custom to match the number of wrenches in each set. I also figured out that if I use one of the mini baseball bats with the end cut off I can vary the size of the loops to match the wrench.

 

[Sam'sAutoParts]

Also a fan of the wire, one of the first things I learned on the GJ. I mostly use it for wrenches that don't see a lot of use, but I also want to have close at hand. When I get a long pattern metric set I may end up putting the standard pattern metric in wire as well.


FYI: all the way in the back of the drawer is a 30mm SK Combo, it just fits in the HF 44" on edge. I couldn't squeeze the 32mm in though.

 

[nine4gmc]

I spy a free SK 20mm stubby!

 

[Sam'sAutoParts]

I spy a free SK 20mm stubby!

Yup, its from the hat promotion, I had to buy another hat but the wrench has held up well...lol

 

[TheGrooveking]

Great job on the wooden rack! I like it, I'm going to borrow that design and break out one of the table saws.

TheGrooveking

 

[cherrybomb]

Nice job,I'm also a wood worker so I appreciate the effort,If you have a router table or know of some,a bowl bit would make a pleasing curve on the finger grab in the center.

 

[dwasifar]

Nice job,I'm also a wood worker so I appreciate the effort,If you have a router table or know of some,a bowl bit would make a pleasing curve on the finger grab in the center.

Hey, that's a good idea. I was going to dado it but the bowl bit is a much better suggestion.

 

[2oolhound]

I like the 2nd one but how about this- use a 2x6 or 2x8 but cut it down to 2x4 or 2x6 at one end so it grows with the wrenches at one end. Then do the "Bowl" dato idea through the middle (also tapering), than you will have perfection!

 

[dwasifar]

I like the 2nd one but how about this- use a 2x6 or 2x8 but cut it down to 2x4 or 2x6 at one end so it grows with the wrenches at one end. Then do the "Bowl" dato idea through the middle (also tapering), than you will have perfection!

The taper would have to be cut after the slots were made. Not sure how you'd taper the bowl.

Right now the width of these things is limited by how far I can raise the blade on my table saw, which is about 3.25". They're made out of firewood, squared up on the saw because I don't currently have a planer. I suppose I could edge-glue two pieces, though.

 

[garthg]

Yes, it needs labels for the slots, and magnets glued in the bottom of each slot. And a satin Minwax finish.