One small drawer, six sets of wrenches...

zuspiel · Dec 23, 2008

Reorganized the wrench drawer in my tool cart this weekend. I used to just have the full Cman raised panes 6pt set in there (both SAE and metric):

Since I mostly work on the Mustang, I got tired of going back to the box to get the other stuff (plus I wanted to have my new Macs close by

). After looking at Ernst, the Cman foam holders, etc. I realized that I could never get all the stuff I wanted in the drawer unless I did it myself. I played with the layout for a while and had to cut a couple of large wrenches, but otherwise it's all there:

Clockwise from bottom left (all SAE):

MAC extra long KS2 (3/8 - 3/4) :thumbup:

GW reversible combo (5/16 - 3/4)
Cman 6pt combo (1/4 - 5/8)
Cman flare nut (1/4 - 11/16)
GW stubby (5/16 - 3/4)
Kobalt locking flex (3/8 - 3/4) <=== These will be replaced with GW locking XL Flexes...

It's not quite "man jewelery" but you also won't be able to see the dirt down the road...

PS: Yeah, I know the stubbies are crooked... Stupid contact glue... Grrrrr....

MOPARHOUND! · Dec 23, 2008

Too cool!

Didn't need more toolbox, just some creative use of the space you had. Nicely done.

B.O.V. Norway · Dec 23, 2008

'Manwelry' as good as any and excellent use of the space available. :thumbup:

Stubbies aren't crooked by the way, they just have an 'artistic twist to their placement'.

Have a nice day.

olds70supreme · Dec 23, 2008

Looks great! What kind of foam did you use, and did you just cut with a utility knife?

Thanks.

zuspiel · Dec 23, 2008

Thanks! Glad you guys like it. My wife was a questioning my sanity when she saw how excited I was once it was done...

Even if I had the money for another box, I wouldn't have a place to put it...

B.O.V. said:
Stubbies aren't crooked by the way, they just have an 'artistic twist to their placement'.

Have to remember that... :beer:

olds70supreme said:
What kind of foam did you use, and did you just cut with a utility knife?

The foam is similar to the one Sears sells, but I didn't have to sell a kidney to get it... Got it at some craft store.

I cut it with an X-acto knife but anything with a razor blade will do. The whole thing is made of three layers of foam: bottom layer for supporting the layout, middle layer in shape of the wrench sets, top layer with the gaps for the wrenches. Gluing the stuff together was a *****, though...

ImportTuner · Dec 23, 2008

Great job; looks really nice

bchee · Dec 23, 2008

what do you think about the KS2 now that you've had a chance to use them?
The beams look pretty thick compared to the other wrenches.
Any more picts of them? thanks

Phatsub · Dec 23, 2008

Very nice work. I'm thinking "Wrench ****". That second picture is great for wallpaper too.

justinmc · Dec 23, 2008

Nice how you can cram em in with a little forethought and work with some foam. Nice work!!

Stuey · Dec 23, 2008

Looks pretty good! It looks like you could cram a few more wrenches in there if you wanted to.

buening · Dec 23, 2008

Now get out your dremel tool and etch the wrench sizes into the foam and use a fine paint brush and paint the number recesses a color for easy reading.....unless you have every wrench location memorized

zuspiel · Dec 23, 2008

bchee said:
what do you think about the KS2 now that you've had a chance to use them?
The beams look pretty thick compared to the other wrenches.
Any more picts of them? thanks

I'll be brief since I plan on doing a real wrench comparison soon...

Yes, the beams are thick. They felt weird in the beginning since the beam is rectangular. When I first handled them, I thought they might be uncomfortable. The edges aren't sharp, though. After using them a bit, I don't mind the shape at all. I just hold them slightly different (side of the beam in the middle between finger joints). That way, the shape makes sense. They are REALLY sturdy but not bulky. The open end is thicker than anything else I have, but not any wider. The KS2 feature seems to work as advertised w/o tearing up the bolts. The length is awesome. The box end is slightly thinner (smaller total diameter) than anything else I own. Finish is unbelievable. Overall, couldn't be happier for the $130 (shipped) I paid for them.

I'm at work. I can take more pics over X-mas. Here's a (crummy) pic of the open end:

zuspiel · Dec 23, 2008

justinmc said:
Nice how you can cram em in with a little forethought and work with some foam. Nice work!!

It was more like "a LOT of forethought" (I'm dense sometimes...)

I had the wrenches laid out on my workbench for a couple of days last week. Whenever I passed by, I'd play with the layout a bit... Wasn't sure if I could get the flare nut wrenches in until the very end...

Stuey said:
Looks pretty good! It looks like you could cram a few more wrenches in there if you wanted to.

I have two GW S-shaped double box wrenches left. Couldn't find a "pleasing" way to arrange them in the middle front. Plus the GW XL flexes will be a bit longer...

buening said:
Now get out your dremel tool and etch the wrench sizes into the foam and use a fine paint brush and paint the number recesses a color for easy reading.....unless you have every wrench location memorized

Nice idea, I'll remember that. For the wrench drawer, I think I'll be ok though

The only thing that throws me off is that the Cman 6pt set has an 11/32 in it. Wonder if I'll ever use that... (wish it was a 9/32 since that what the front brake bleeder valves need, 7mm works fine, though).

Thanks again for appreciating my "anality" :bounce:

LoneGunman · Dec 23, 2008

What type of foam is it, the stuff that doesnt compress and is somewhat hard or the stuff that compresses easily? Very nice layout, I see myself buying foam in the very near future, this is definately a "5 star" post.

mikeatrpi · Dec 23, 2008

zuspiel said:
I cut it with an X-acto knife but anything with a razor blade will do. The whole thing is made of three layers of foam: bottom layer for supporting the layout, middle layer in shape of the wrench sets, top layer with the gaps for the wrenches. Gluing the stuff together was a *****, though...

I must be stupid. I can't visualize the three layers.

Good work though! I'd love to duplicate it :drool:

zuspiel · Dec 23, 2008

LoneGunman said:
What type of foam is it, the stuff that doesnt compress and is somewhat hard or the stuff that compresses easily?

The stuff that compresses slightly. Right, that answers it...

Seriously, the foam is fairly hard but it still has some give to it. That way, it holds the wrenches in place. The slots are cut just a bit smaller than the wrenches. I have no clue how to really describe it. It's very similar to the Cman tool organizing stuff, which I've used for my ratchet drawer.

mikeatrpi said:
I can't visualize the three layers.

The bottom layer is just a rectangle that sits in the drawer (instead of gluing the other two layers directly to the drawer). For the other two layers, I cut the same overall shape out of the foam (for each wrench set). Say, the parallelogram for the MACs. I left one of the pieces whole. The other one, I cut up into strips which become the "sidewalls" holding each wrench in (I removed some additional material from each strip to make room for the actual wrench).

To assemble the whole thing, I started by using nails to pin the small strips to the whole parallelogram while also putting in the wrenches for spacing. Once the whole set of MACs was pre-assembled, I put masking tape over the top and pulled the nails. Flipped it over an took out the wrenches. The masking tape now holds the strips in place and I glued them to the whole parallelogram. Voila, a holder for one set of wrenches. That two layer piece is what I glued to the base (making three layers total).

I hope this helps. Gotta run but can go into more detail tonight.

billymade · Dec 23, 2008

Teutonic organization skills are on display here.... amazing!

zuspiel · Dec 23, 2008

Thanks!

J.A.F.E. · Dec 23, 2008

Very very nice. Makes really effective use of space, looks good and seems like it would function well. Very well done.

~Steve

mikeatrpi · Dec 23, 2008

Ah, ok I got it now. Thank you for the explanation. I figured you could just cut 1/2 way through the foam, but your method will leave the proper sized gap for each wrench. Its a clever way of doing it. I guess if you only cut part way it could tear and make it weak.

zuspiel · Dec 23, 2008

Vielen Dank!

Mike: Glad my rushed braindump worked

I don't think it would work with just cutting the foam. The wrenches are too wide for that. You'd have to use a softer foam which wouldn't hold up well. Also, I don't think I would have been able to make the cuts consistent enough for it to look decent... The glue, even though it's a pain, seems to hold the stuff together really well. We'll see how well the whole thing holds up...

One small drawer, six sets of wrenches...

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