Best way to organize sockets??

[RJS]

Thanks for the positive comments. It's just a .375" plate with holes drilled most of the way through and alluminum round stock in 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 cut and press fit into the holes. I cut the round stock with a band saw, then turned the both ends of each peg to have a beveled edge, one side to look nice, the other to help start the press fit. After I laid out the pattern I set the stop on the drill press and drilled all the holes with slightly undersize bits. Then I filed all the edges and polished the top of the plate before pressing the pegs in. The press fit seems to be pretty good I can pick up the whole plate, which is pretty heavy, by any one of the pegs. The pegs fit pretty tight to the sockets as well, I can lift them straight off and drop them on easily, but they don't have much wiggle room once they are on there. I'm pretty satisfied with it, I had all my sockets on the cheap rails before and I wanted some thing where I could just pick them up. I looked at hansen's but I thought this would be better for making the most of my space.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/cooter4458/IMAG0024.jpg

 

[Merkava_4]

What are the size of the drill bits?

What are the depth of the holes?

What are the length of the pegs?

How about posting the whole blueprint?

 

[caspian65]

That's ok if you know exactly what sockets you need, but it is somewhat inflexible if you have to change or re-arrange. I wouldn't want to remove 100 sockets to add another pin.

 

[Jononon]

That's ok if you know exactly what sockets you need, but it is somewhat inflexible if you have to change or re-arrange. I wouldn't want to remove 100 sockets to add another pin.

I was thinking about that, too.

If the pins were all turned to the same diameter and threaded, and a grid drilled and tapped in the baseplate, that wouldn't be necessary. You'd lose some storage space, because the pitch of the 1/4" pins would be too big, but gain flexibility.

 

[MAD]

That's ok if you know exactly what sockets you need, but it is somewhat inflexible if you have to change or re-arrange. I wouldn't want to remove 100 sockets to add another pin.

Yeah, you never know when Snap-on is going to come out with a 3/8" drive mid legnth 6.3 mm impact socket. Then what would you do?

 

[wilbilt]

I was thinking about that, too.

If the pins were all turned to the same diameter and threaded, and a grid drilled and tapped in the baseplate, that wouldn't be necessary. You'd lose some storage space, because the pitch of the 1/4" pins would be too big, but gain flexibility.

In my thinking, since sockets are of varying diameters, an inflexible square grid design is not optimal in the interest of saving space.

 

[caspian65]

Yeah, you never know when Snap-on is going to come out with a 3/8" drive mid legnth 6.3 mm impact socket. Then what would you do?

I would buy the socket and snap a new clip onto the Ernst rail! Yes, I would have to have the 6.3

 

[MAD]

I would buy the socket and snap a new clip onto the Ernst rail! Yes, I would have to have the 6.3

They may actually have offered a 6.3 mm 1/4" drive socket at one time. I have some Import ones. SK sold them as part number 40705 (discontinued) 6.3 is awful close to 1/4". There must have been some 1/4" head on a metric thread fastener application that prompted some tool makers to include 6.3 in the metric socket selection at one time. I don't know what it is but if I ever encountered one I used a 1/4" socket. Snap-on must have sold them at one time though.

Happy hunting

 

[edl]

fwiw, bought bunch of .89c rails from hft tool like the ones in this pic http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=1147 - i like these for a few reasons: (i) cheap; (ii) can hang on the bottom peg of pegboard so they cover low wall space that goes otherwise unused; and (iii) can grap one rail (or 2) and have various sizes, or sae/metric/ or deep shallow, without going back and forth - ymmv! - thx, ed

 

[number9]

I looked at the Hansen (whatever they are) yesterday at Sears and didn't like them that well. They look to be taller than the sockets (deep) and therefore would not fit in my drawers cause the sockets barely clear as it is.

I ended up getting some socket trays from HF and they worked out real well. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95783 The only things that bugged me was I had to but them in two with a hacksaw to fit in my drawer sideways like I wanted, but they don't look bad when they are in there. The other was that the markings skip some sockets I have, like going from 12mm to 14mm or something like that. No big deal, as I am going to make labels and put over the markings anyways though.

..

 

[rsanter]

I bought one of the hansens to try out with the anticipation that I would buy them for all of my sockets.
not sure I like them, they take more room than the sockets on the rail did and then the tray does not even have a spot for the smalles 1/2" drive sockets I have.
I think if you take an aluminum plate (or wood) and insert pins in it and set your own spacing you would be better off as far as fit goes.

for that matter you could just take the metal socket rails and pop rivit them to piece of sheetmetal and drop it in your drawer. you can adjust or move around as you want.

for now all of my sockets stand in the drawer on socket rails ans I grab the whole rail and take it to the work.

bob

 

[bmwpower]

I still like the black Craftsman plastic ones. Cheap and reconfigurable.

With $5 coupon, they're $0.99 each.

 

[Chris Adams]

I bought the 99 cent tin rails from HF when they were on 2 for a dollar. Bought about thirty of them.
Then I cut them up with my small chop saw.
I'm using about forty of them, ranging from 3 inches to full 12 inches. I have one for each class of socket. Since the clips slide back and forth, and interchange from 1/4 to 1/2 that gives me a lot of flex.
So for example in my half inch SAE socket drawer
I have six with one devoted to exstensions, one to six point deep, one to six point shallow, one to 12 point shallow, etc.
They lay sideways. I can pop one socket off, or grab the set and toss it in the tool cart.

In my impact socket drawer there are 9 rails, one for each type of socket.
Cheap and works good.

 

[NOMAD]

I had a bunch of HF metal rails and got a bunch of Craftsman metal rails to replace them with. I got a bunch of SAE sockets from my dad's collection and added several craftsman sets with the coupon so my drawer went from a few laying on their sides to filled standing on their ends.

I took 1" wide by 3/16" thick wood slats and glued them into a channel that I can slide the ends of the rails into. This channel sits on the bottom of the toolbox and I can move all my sockets around how I like while they easily stand on end no matter how I slam the drawer.

I painted it black and used a thin wide slat of particle board for the bottom. So far it works awesome. A lot less work than rivets, posts etc.

 

[arthur1920]

Whats the best way you guys have figured out to organize sockets?

I just ordered the 3 sets of Hansen global socket trays to try them out..

I also have multiple sets of sockets, impacts, shorts, longs, 12 point, 6 point etc. so I may end up buying more of theses..

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/...=mode+matchallpartial&Dx=mode+matchallpartial

What else do you guy use?

I like the little metal trays that used to come with sockets. :-(
I like the little gizmo that Eastwood sells. Its magnetic tray that holds the sockets but you can just pick the socket up without wrestling like the new Craftsman trays or a clip rail.

 

[arthur1920]

Plus, at least for the cars I've dealt with, you simply don't need as many tools as people seem to accumulate.

.

You must only own vintage VW Beetles and are endowed with inestimable patience.

Do not buy a vintage English car.

 

[JayL]

How many 13" Ernst Universal socket rail organizers ( w/ matching socket clips) do you think I have to buy to fit in all these sockets?

http://download.sears.com/misc/IL36200.pdf

tks

 

[eschoendorff]

How many 13" Ernst Universal socket rail organizers ( w/ matching socket clips) do you think I have to buy to fit in all these sockets?

http://download.sears.com/misc/IL36200.pdf

tks

A whole lot.

 

[JayL]

I'm getting the set soon and I really just don't know how many sockets will fit in one 13" rail considering the sockets have different diameters. Can you please help give an estimate how many 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" 13" rails I need to purchase to cover the lot.

tks

 

[Fedwrench]

I'm getting the set soon and I really just don't know how many sockets will fit in one 13" rail considering the sockets have different diameters. Can you please help give an estimate how many 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" 13" rails I need to purchase to cover the lot.

tks

For planning purposes you can use 10 sockets a rail. It will be more for 1/4 and perhaps less for 1/2 depending on size and type. You also can't use the last inch of an Ernst rail because you can't attach clips over the hanger.

 

[BiltFordTuff]

i did have the hf hansen type but they were pretty much made JUST for hf sockets, as some of my s-k deep sockets won't fit. so i went to hf and bought that 6 pc. socket drawer organizer but dont have enough room for it. I have thought about making my own organizers but i cant think of anything that suits my needs :-(

 

[Skin]

i did have the hf hansen type but they were pretty much made JUST for hf sockets, as some of my s-k deep sockets won't fit.

What do you mean they wouldnt fit? The tray didnt have adequate space?