Color Coding Your Tools?

[oldschoolcraft]

I've heard some mechanics on YouTube say they buy specific colors of tools, when possible. Usually Snap On, because they might offer 3 to 5 different colors for various screwdriver handled tools.

I have been eyeballing buying dedicated Torx screwdrivers, and it got my thinking, maybe I should get them in green handles because when you look at L-Key Tools, they tend to do Metric in Red, SAE in Yellow, and if they make Torx L-Keys, those are always green. It would make visual sense to have a screwdriver drawer have different colored handle screwdrivers to quickly identify that tool is what.

Of course, not all tool makers give you an option on color like Snap On does, and a lot of people don't want to spend $40 per screwdriver and go with other brands. And it would be a bit silly to pick a tool based solely on color, but there's so much competition, there are probably a handful of places making similar tools and you might get some color options by changing brands.

There's also the possibility that some material handles might absorb Rit dye. I've noticed a bunch of tool hipsters on Reddit have been putting their Milwaukee power tool shell bodies into black Rit dye to change the color. Some of you might laugh at this, but there could be a functional benefit of tool identification and ownership identification.

This isn't a patentable idea, so I'll gladly share, I'll bet within a decade, some tool company starts making white-handled tools with the premise the owner will Rit Dye it their preferred color. Anyone with sand colored Magpul PMAGs will understand. Then you could dye your Philips one color, Torx another, flathead a third, etc.

So I'm wondering, if you color code, how do you decide on the colors and how has it worked out?

 

[Meursault74]

works well for making sure you put your underwear on the right way, color orientation should be obvious.

 

[FigN⋅m]

I let my tools decide their own color and gender

 

[johnre]

My tools always go back in the same place in the tool cabinet, and it's rare that a job mixes standard and metric sizes. Thus, there's usually no special marking needed, with only two exceptions:

1. The socket racks are all in one drawer, and they stay on the rack, but since they do have a handle on them, all orange, I striped the handle to match the stripes added to the sockets. Thus, with only a quick glance, striped means "metric".
2. I put a red band of paint around the metric allen wrenches, as they seem to be able to scramble themselves on their own..

 

[humber2]

I have more than two sets of SO screwdrivers, each set a different colour but none black.

What I did next was to swap over the Philips drivers so no more rummaging through a road box to find the minority profile.

No problem with the Grey handles being exclusively Posidrive.

QED

YMMV

 

[Tactile]

I'm not a mechanic but work out of a mobile tool-case. I find that PBSwiss has a great system for screwdrivers where on the top of their Swissgrip range is not only different colour for the tips but actually shows the tip type on the handle end. Great for selecting at-a-glance when installed in webbing.

 

[Matt XYZ]

My tools always go back in the same place in the tool cabinet, and it's rare that a job mixes standard and metric sizes.

Sounds like you don't have a late 70s Chevy. I do keep my SAE wrenches and sockets in a separate tool box to keep from cluttering up the drawers.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I do not color code, but in my shop all metric go in a grey and black box and all SAE go into a red box as I work on many varied things and it saves time and effort.

 

[milky2k]

And it would be a bit silly to pick a tool based solely on color,

For me, color would not be the only factor but it would be “A factor”. I got sick of looking for black tools in a black bag, in the dark, at night so I’ve been slowly upgrading my tools to high visibility colors. This makes them easier to find and less likely to leave behind under the hood of a car. Recently, I’ve been looking into plastic dipping some plier handles or covering them in some bright heat shrink tubing since some of my favorite tools are not available in high viz colors. I also color-coded a non-reversible ratcheting wrench so that I can tell the direction at a glance.

 

[goldtang]

I Left the colour coded and tool control at work when I retired, can’t think of any good reason to have it a home , just keep metric, SAE and yes for me whitworth spanner seprate , plus same type of tool in the same draws ie screwdrivers etc

 

[toolenthusiast]

SAE goes in the garbage can, metric gets painted pink or purple so nobody else thinks it’s theirs. ezpz

 

[djbmw]

You mean your tools arent permanently coloured "grease black" like mine?

If you're doing lots of work with your tools then the only colouring that really holds up is anodizing the metal... or changing the rubber hand grips for hand tools. Shy of that, its a waste of time to try colouring them.

 

[cgrutt]

Personally I wouldn't buy different colored handles to identify, say, torx vs phillips. I wouldn't find that very helpful and would be more put off by the mismatched colors than any benefit it may provide. With that said I do have a set of Snap on SAE nut drivers where there are different colored sleeves on each of the shafts that identify different sizes. That was pretty helpful and I eventually thought of the tool by the color rather than the size, yellow for GM, red for Ford, etc. I eventually bought a set of metric nut drivers that had all black sleeves and I had to get used to thinking about sizes again lol. Haven't used nut drivers frequently in many years but they were great when I needed them.

I do buy and prefer GRK torx bits for my impact driver. The bits are colored for size, green for T25, etc. Very useful when looking through a box of bits for a particular size. The GRK bits are relatively expensive but I prefer them over other brands only for the color.

 

[bwringer]

I'd just like the entire goddamn world to decide once and for all whether metric tools are red or blue. Make a friggin' decision and stick to it, please. Green does seem to have stuck as the designation for torx (AKA "star").

I'd also like to require all screwdriver and t-handle manufacturers to clearly and permanently mark the drive size and style on the handle in such a way that it is visible without magical microvision, and so that it stays visible after use.

In my world, which is populated with metric motorcycles and late-model cars, the inch **** gets tossed into a dusty bottom drawer in a tertiary toolbox for the rare occasions I'm working on a Harley or other farm machinery. So I don't really need to distinguish between metric and inch ****.

However, I have to admit the color anodizing for each size on some Harbor Freight sockets can be useful, and is a Damn Good Idea. It wears off eventually, but then again the advanced wear on the 10mm is expected and distinctive enough; I don't really need it to stay blue.

 

[Grant Gunderson]

In my opinion color coding by metric / type is idiotic. Color coding by size is way more useful.


I use glue filled heat shrink to color label all of my hex / torx sockets and screw drivers.

This way no matter what tool I’m grabbing I know I have the size I’m looking for. I also keep the color code the same for the same size in different driver types. Since I mostly work on bikes Torx 25 and a 5mm hex are the most common they both share the same color code.

 

[Matt XYZ]

SAE goes in the garbage can, metric gets painted pink or purple so nobody else thinks it’s theirs. ezpz

toolenthusiast- you can send them my way, especially if they are Snap On.

 

[Junkdrawer Dog]

SAE goes in the garbage can, metric gets painted pink or purple so nobody else thinks it’s theirs. ezpz

Yep. I've known guys who painted their most commonly used (and borrowed) tools either hot pink or florescent green. Looks like hell but keeps them from wandering away. Most often a spud wrench and 12" pump pliers.

 

[toolenthusiast]

Yep. I've known guys who painted their most commonly used (and borrowed) tools either hot pink or florescent green. Looks like hell but keeps them from wandering away. Most often a spud wrench and 12" pump pliers.

I have dozens of visegrips in Rustoleum Grape

 

[RPH]

Only at one place did we have to color code our tools. Where I worked we were the test, calibration, and service department. When a machine left and start up support bought. We would go. So, sometimes in house work would back up because the department was empty. We would return and found most of the tools for hooking units up to test would be gone. Pipe wrenches, large adjustables, and chairs would turn up missing. We painted our shop tools fluorescent pink! Easy to spot and nobody would claim them. Still had to wander and collect them though.

 

[bobg03]

I let my tools decide their own color and gender

Now that the coffee is off my screen, I'm in before the lock....

 

[richfinn]

I like my Vessel Megadora screwdrivers with the striking caps, I make my own marks on the metal caps to help identify them quickly in my tool bag.

I always wrap a piece of good quality electrical tape around my 10/13/17 mm spanners for the same reason (a trick I learned on GJ )

My go to socket rail is a mix of different drive sizes, in short and semi depths with a couple of Torx sockets and few adapters (very easy to identify)

 

[Beerhippie]

When I worked on construction sites, we color-coded our tools for identification as whose they were. We either used paint or vinyl tape. My personal cresting was red over blue stripes. If you have any tools with that color of cresting, GIVE THEM BACK.

When I worked in the woods, all my tools were hazard orange just to make it harder to lose them on the weeds. Anything I didn't paint--like optics and electronics--got a long streamer of orange surveyor's tape.

It's amazing how a tool can just vanish when set down in the woods.

 

[Tools4Me]

I buy tools mainly for their design and/or quality. Buying partly for color might cause me to miss out on owning a good quality tool that happens to only come in one color, or I might miss a great deal on a quality used tool because it isn't the right color.

For relatively common shop tasks like performing an oil change on a specific vehicle, I print out small cards that list the tools, socket sizes, oil type, capacity, oil filter part number, torque specs, etc. I need for that particular job and I go through my tool drawers and grab the things I need and put them into a metal carry tray before starting the job. When finished, I empty the metal carry tray and put each item back where it belongs. If I was doing the same job on an almost daily basis, I would buy duplicates of every tool I needed for that specific job, mark them somehow to identify them as part of that job's kit, and keep them in one spot at all times. I would grab that custom tray, tool box, or tool cart whenever I needed to do that specific job. That way nothing would be missing from my main tool sets for times when I'm doing other tasks.

In my shop I don't have any sort of unique identification on my pliers, screwdrivers, wrenches , sockets, etc. That being said, visibility to prevent tool loss isn't an issue, because those tools never leave my shop. I keep my SAE and metric stuff separated, because I usually know what I will be working on and whether it was built using SAE or metric fasteners. I grab individual sets/sockets/wrenches I need as I need them, so mixing things up isn't really an issue. Pliers are always stored in the exact same spots, so I grab what I want more based on location rather than visual appearance. In regards to screwdrivers, I only have a couple. P1 and P2 Phillips, several different sizes of slotted, the two sizes of Torx I most commonly use, and that's about it. For all the rest I use insert bits or long shafted power bits (for recessed fasteners) along with a bit handle or bit ratchet, so everything can be stored much more compactly.

In my portable tool boxes that I take to remote jobs, I keep my metric and SAE sockets mixed together, stored as one set by size, from smallest to largest. If the first socket I grab is a little too big (or small) I put it back and grab the next one over. I usually don't even look at the stamped wrench/socket sizes until I'm putting things away after a job is done. Things that aren't visually identified in some way have a specific place they go in my tool box, so sockets don't get lost, because I notice something missing and find it before leaving any job that I finish.

Screwdrivers, mini pry bars, scrapers, pens, etc. that are part of my portable tool kit sometimes change around and are hard to fully organize in a tool box, so they get some yellow paint, yellow electrical tape, or a yellow zip tie to identify them as part of my portable tool kit, and so they are easier to see/find when out in the field. It also prevents them from getting mixed up with my shop tools when I'm doing a job at home that requires the use of both my shop and portable tool setups.

When I'm working out of a tool belt I place my tools in the belt the same way every time and I grab them by location and feel without looking. The only exception to that is I have a couple slotted and phillips screwdrivers and a couple common nut drivers with their sizes marked on the end of the handles for visual identification in a tool belt since they otherwise all feel/look very similar.

 

[oldschoolcraft]

In my portable tool boxes that I take to remote jobs, I keep my metric and SAE sockets mixed together, stored as one set by size, from smallest to largest. If the first socket I grab is a little too big (or small) I put it back and grab the next one over.

Watch out! I mentioned doing this before and the cyber police were dispatched and gave me a virtual spanking. Consequences were never the same.

 

[no704]

Past job I got tired of the engineers all was using my tools so I got a box and a set of tools for them to use. All got painted with red dykem.

 

[AEAdam]

When I worked on construction sites, we color-coded our tools for identification as whose they were. We either used paint or vinyl tape. My personal cresting was red over blue stripes. If you have any tools with that color of cresting, GIVE THEM BACK.

When I worked in the woods, all my tools were hazard orange just to make it harder to lose them on the weeds. Anything I didn't paint--like optics and electronics--got a long streamer of orange surveyor's tape.

It's amazing how a tool can just vanish when set down in the woods.

Same.

I have multiple tool boxes. I didn’t plan it this way, but 99% of my tools in my main automotive box are yellow. I wanted something I could find in my black sports car, so I asked my friendly mechanic to grab me a set of snap on screwdrivers off the truck and they had yellow. 30yrs later, all my tools are yellow (except pliers). My guest toolbox is all green.




guest box

 

[terrific]

NASA used light/dark blue/green for imperial/metric 1/4 vs 3/8 tools, but they color coded the storage, not the individual tools.
I don't think I have enough tools to benefit from this. I can spot the difference between my 1/4 and 3/8 sockets without colors.
I do want to do something similar for my hex style 1/4" bits, though.

 

[Bert_]

Not uncommon for guys with a service truck to put a streak of paint across their tools.

I have some random stuff like cheater pipes, that I painted pink to keep people from throwing it away