Ernst Socket Boss?

[cliftonbros89]

Ok. I think I've read majority of threads on socket storage and socket rails. For storing my sockets, as you can see below, I currently have the Hanson socket trays, the Snap On trays that come with the sockets, a few classic metal CM socket rails, the rest sit loose.

I feel like the SO trays and Hanson trays waste too much space. The Hansons aren't all full. There's large gaps in between. So my question is will the Ernst rail system save me space? I think the option with the clips to hold extensions and ratchets. But I don't want to get them if they won't save me space. I'd like to create space for more socket sets in the future.



This is how it currently looks

Can I eliminate these gaps with the socket boss?

 

[MichaelBikel]

I have no socket organization yet and i'm having a hard time finding exactly what I want. Most socket rails only hold up to 14-15 sockets on a set and a lot of them look like they don't have enough space. What if I had 20 sockets that I wanted to keep together? I guess its not a big issue but there has to be a more custom option. My real problem is that the drawer I keep sockets in is not deep enough and the deep drawer I need for power tool storage so I have to keep the deep sockets on their side. So as of now I have no portability until I buy a tray or rail system. Here is an example of my 1/2 drawer

[/url]IMG_7193 by MichaelBikel, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[MichaelBikel]

It honestly looks like you just need more room.

But I like these and wanted to post

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002Q83S1C/?tag=atomicindus08-20

looks like it could help you save SOME room

 

[cliftonbros89]

I plan to sometime move my big pry bar and 3/4" breaker bar out sometime. I've read a lot of good things specifically about the Ernst rails. But with the trays that hold the rails, will it take up less room than the Hansons do?

 

[LXCam]

You'll gain about 30-40% more room with the Ernst rails over what you got. I went looking for some pictures of my socket drawers and didn't really have any. If no one else does, I'll snap a new pic tonight and show ya.

 

[cliftonbros89]

You'll gain about 30-40% more room with the Ernst rails over what you got. I went looking for some pictures of my socket drawers and didn't really have any. If no one else does, I'll snap a new pic tonight and show ya.

That'd be great to see some pictures. Do you use the black trays to hold rails sets together? Or do you use the gray holders to link rails together? I'm thinking I could use both. But I don't want my 1/2" impacts to stick up much further or they'll be to tall for the drawer

 

[LXCam]

That'd be great to see some pictures. Do you use the black trays to hold rails sets together? Or do you use the gray holders to link rails together? I'm thinking I could use both. But I don't want my 1/2" impacts to stick up much further or they'll be to tall for the drawer

I have the gray ones. I like the little bit of spacing so I can see the labels. The height can be an issue though. If I remember correctly I need 4.5" for my 1/2" deeps and several of the major brand boxes have 4" deep socket drawers. It's a real deal killer at times. I'll confirm that as well.

 

[cliftonbros89]

I have the gray ones. I like the little bit of spacing so I can see the labels. The height can be an issue though. If I remember correctly I need 4.5" for my 1/2" deeps and several of the major brand boxes have 4" deep socket drawers. It's a real deal killer at times. I'll confirm that as well.

Do the grey space further than the black? My drawer is about 4.5" deep. With my longest impact on the Hanson tray I still have about an inch to spare. I just wasn't sure how tall the rail would be sitting on the tray.

 

[LXCam]

I gotta look bud, I honestly don't remember the spacing. I understand what you're looking for and I'll confirm everything this evening.

 

[csargents1546]

Can't go wrong with ernst rails. I am slowly converting my roll cart over. Currently set up with 4 18" rails. The increase in height with the Grey rail holders is very small, would say less than 1/8 of an inch. I too got rid of the Hansen trays as well as the manufactures trays. Take up way too much space.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Can't go wrong with ernst rails. I am slowly converting my roll cart over. Currently set up with 4 18" rails. The increase in height with the Grey rail holders is very small, would say less than 1/8 of an inch. I too got rid of the Hansen trays as well as the manufactures trays. Take up way too much space.

Do you think you'll get all 18" rails? That's another debate I'm having with myself. With my 1/4" sets I'm wondering if I could just get by with the 8" rails. That way I still could keep my SAE and metric separate. Basically set up like I have it pictured above, but on the rails. Plus I'd still have the options to add in swivels and mid-deep sockets later.

 

[hoston23]

Ok. I think I've read majority of threads on socket storage and socket rails. For storing my sockets, as you can see below, I currently have the Hanson socket trays, the Snap On trays that come with the sockets, a few classic metal CM socket rails, the rest sit loose.

I feel like the SO trays and Hanson trays waste too much space. The Hansons aren't all full. There's large gaps in between. So my question is will the Ernst rail system save me space? I think the option with the clips to hold extensions and ratchets. But I don't want to get them if they won't save me space. I'd like to create space for more socket sets in the future.



This is how it currently looks

Can I eliminate these gaps with the socket boss?

you cant elimate the gaps with socket boss because they also have lots of gaps. I switched from all socket boss to hanson because I can see what size the sockets are. I only use the socket boss rails for my sockets that wont fit on the hanson trays

 

[WhiffySpark]

I might go back to Hanson trays

 

[cliftonbros89]

Anyone use these? Do they save any space? Other than possibly not filling each slot

 

[zcbauer89]

Anyone use these? Do they save any space? Other than possibly not filling each slot

I've used a couple. I like them. I'm not sure if they would save a lot more space though.

 

[MichaelBikel]

The Ersnt rails look cool, I think I would like to try the twist locks. Does anyone know how many you could fit on one rail? I see that the maximum number of clips they come with is 15 (with the 18" rail) but could it potentially hold more? I'd really like to see a rail with a capacity for 20 sockets. I guess you could always divide them up differently I suppose.

 

[Tenex]

I'm diving head first into the Ernst rails. They might save a little space over the Hansen trays, but more importantly the twist-lock clips allow me to take the sockets anywhere.

 

[Tenex]

The Ersnt rails look cool, I think I would like to try the twist locks. Does anyone know how many you could fit on one rail? I see that the maximum number of clips they come with is 15 (with the 18" rail) but could it potentially hold more? I'd really like to see a rail with a capacity for 20 sockets. I guess you could always divide them up differently I suppose.

From their website it appears as though you get 15 clips regardless of the drive size you choose. I'm using the 18" rail for my 3/8 deep impacts (8mm-19mm) and I still have room to fit the 20mm-23mm sockets I'll end up buying due to OCD. I can post a pic later.

 

[WhiffySpark]

You can put a lot more than 15 on one. I have 8-19 in that picture with probably room for at least 20. The other set is 8-24 mm

 

[popparoach]

Make your own.?its pretty easy and you get to decide spacing.

 

[MichaelBikel]

You can put a lot more than 15 on one. I have 8-19 in that picture with probably room for at least 20. The other set is 8-24 mm

Nice!
For the magnetic twist lock, which part is magnetized?
Does anyone know where I can get the best pricing? Im looking for the 18" Twist lock probably non magnetic. On Ernst they are $8.95 each.

 

[LXCam]

Nice!
For the magnetic twist lock, which part is magnetized?
Does anyone know where I can get the best pricing? Im looking for the 18" Twist lock probably non magnetic. On Ernst they are $8.95 each.

They don't make a magetic twist, it's plastic and they work very well. I wish I had started out buying those first since 70% of my clips aren't the twist style.

So anyhow I measured the stuff this morning. Turns out I did have black trays but both those and the gray holders have 1.5" center to center spacing. The rare occasion I grab a rail of sockets off my gray ones verses the black ones I have noticed the grays have a tendency to just fall apart and I have to play with the other rails to maintain the alignment, where as the black trays don't do that.

Also the height of the 1/2" deeps where 4.25", so a 4.5" deep drawer is fine.

Those other holders are great when and if you can match the sizing and quantities of whatever accordingly. I like them, but as you can see I just have the odd ball stuff in them. Over the last few months I've added a serious amount of additional sockets, but waited on ordering more of the Ernst rails as I thought I might change to another brand. But after pricing all the aluminum stuff, decided it ain't worth the effort or cost. So now I need to order another 1/2 dozen 18" and finish out these drawers.

Also guys, you can purchase additional clips for not much money. I've been buying my stuff from Summit Racing as well, the prices are right in line with everyone else's I seen.

 

[cliftonbros89]

They don't make a magetic twist, it's plastic and they work very well. I wish I had started out buying those first since 70% of my clips aren't the twist style.

So anyhow I measured the stuff this morning. Turns out I did have black trays but both those and the gray holders have 1.5" center to center spacing. The rare occasion I grab a rail of sockets off my gray ones verses the black ones I have noticed the grays have a tendency to just fall apart and I have to play with the other rails to maintain the alignment, where as the black trays don't do that.

Also the height of the 1/2" deeps where 4.25", so a 4.5" deep drawer is fine.

Those other holders are great when and if you can match the sizing and quantities of whatever accordingly. I like them, but as you can see I just have the odd ball stuff in them. Over the last few months I've added a serious amount of additional sockets, but waited on ordering more of the Ernst rails as I thought I might change to another brand. But after pricing all the aluminum stuff, decided it ain't worth the effort or cost. So now I need to order another 1/2 dozen 18" and finish out these drawers.

Also guys, you can purchase additional clips for not much money. I've been buying my stuff from Summit Racing as well, the prices are right in line with everyone else's I seen.

Thanks for the pictures. It looks like they fit fairly close together. Which is good. Judging by the variety of socket storage you have they seem to keep things more compact compared to most things.

It's just one of those things I wish I had a set to put in my box and compare them to what I have now before I decide to really go through with buying a large quantity.

 

[Tenex]

They don't make a magetic twist, it's plastic and they work very well. I wish I had started out buying those first since 70% of my clips aren't the twist style.

Wrong. Ernst makes a magnetic twist-lock rail as seen HERE. The clips are not magnetic but there are some magnets embedded in the underside of the rail to keep it from sliding around. They're damn expensive for what they are though.

 

[WhiffySpark]

There's also magrail.

 

[LXCam]

Wrong. Ernst makes a magnetic twist-lock rail as seen HERE. The clips are not magnetic but there are some magnets embedded in the underside of the rail to keep it from sliding around. They're damn expensive for what they are though.

Well chit, they didn't have those when I bought all my original ****. Thanks for the info

 

[garfunkle24]

To really pack your sockets densely I would get a bunch of regular socket rails. You can then lay them out or cut them however you want and tack or rivet them to a piece of sheet metal.

Not so good though if you ever want to grab a rail and take it with you.

You basically end up with something like this but with the rails rammed as close together as you like:

 

[khuebner250]

Here's what I did. Wright rails routered into some mdf board. Rails are snug fit, you can pull a single socket or remove the whole rail. Keith

 

[MichaelBikel]

So the Ernst are looking good but I have about 200+ sockets, can anyone recommend a logical solution of combining socket sets on one rail? I am trying to keep my cost down since the rails are $8 a pop. I'm thinking I can get away with combining a deep metric and a shallow metric and adding some twist locks on to accommodate all of them. Or perhaps I will only purchase rails for my 6 point sockets and see where I go from there. If i were to buy a rail for every set i would need 18 and thats just ludicrous! Help me out here fellas!

 

[Fedwrench]

The socket boss is only slightly better than a Hansen tray as you decide what sizes go where. It still takes up a lot of space. I redid my cart with Magrail TLs. They're expensive but, great for cart use. They're not meant to carry your sockets to a car though but, you wheel your cart to where you work anyway.
The mechanics time savers are nice but, are huge space wasters.
I don't like Ernst rails as they come with a hanging hole that wastes space in a cart or drawer, and they're thicker than other rails.
If you don't want to put out the cash for the VIM magrail tls, I would recommend the VIM made Wright branded plastic rails and clips sold by Epstein's. They're inexpensive but, as long as you don't go adding bases to the rails and what not, can reduce all of your sockets footprint. They come in different lengths, red and blue for SAE/Metric. You could also get black rails from cripe for non SAE/MM items.

 

[afazz]

Here is an image of my socket drawer, I feel like the density is just right. I have a mixture of Hansen trays, Westling Machine trays, Craftsman/Wright plastic rails, Snap-on trays, and some of the larger odd size 1/2" drive sockets are just standing up but packed close enough that they can't tip. Almost all of the organizers are cut or modified in some way, I cut off all of the pegs I'm not using and cut the rail lengths to fit exactly the socket set they're storing.

 

[evanbaker08]

Ernst wastes more space than those, but I still love mine. If you decide to go with the Ernst and you want the trays just buy the rails and I'll give you my trays that hold three rails each. Just send me a pm. The trays didn't fit in my box so i switched to this.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Ernst wastes more space than those, but I still love mine. If you decide to go with the Ernst and you want the trays just buy the rails and I'll give you my trays that hold three rails each. Just send me a pm. The trays didn't fit in my box so i switched to this.

You think Ernst waste more space than Hanson trays? I guess I'm going to have to pick a few up to do a side by side comparison. I just feel like my Hanson trays are really wasting space.

 

[Yourfired]

I agree that Ernst trays save space. Personally I use Hanson because they are more convenient for me.