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extension storage; magnet rail?

Spike00513

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Jul 18, 2012
Messages
47
A friend of mine had a very strong magnetic metal rail to store extensions, probably rare earth neodymium. I think it may have even been expensive and purchased from Snap On.

Does anyone know anything about these?
I'm having trouble finding one to buy.
It seems like the best way to organize extension bars (3/8", etc.)

by laying it down flat vertically in a toolbox drawer, and then placing the extensions on it. They all lay flat, stuck to the magnet and ready to grab when you need to use one,
without rolling all over the place or shifting around during opening and closing of toolbox drawers

I know many sellers/stores have magnetic strips available in general,
such as Harbor Freight
but they're cheaper and I doubt it's as strong

I think it was up to $50
it was low profile/thin enough to not obstruct space in the toolbox drawer

Ullman-Rail.jpg


closest thing I see right now is blue-point rack that comes in different lengths

SMR13.jpg
 
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dsimatt

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Dec 9, 2012
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6,454
Yeah horrible freight sells them, now they are only magnetic on one side so I had to screw mine to the drawers.
 

darkzero

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Oct 20, 2011
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SoCal
I just bought 2 of the HF ones yesterday with the $3 coupon. They're not neodymium magnets but used some at my old work & they are strong enough to hold tools fine (& cause pain!).

If the strip is bolted to something like they were designed to they'll hold wrenches fine. I'm bolting two of them to a piece of aluminum to use as a portable holder for some files. Used backwards like this they're not so strong as it can slide off a vertical surface.

After mock up I unbolted them from the strip of aluminum. Stupid me was not being careful & after I unbolted the first one the damn thing pinched my finger against the other one. Hurt like hell & struggled to get out of that mess trying to separate the 2. Luckily my finger nail didn't turn blue. I laughed to myself about it after but it was a good reminder to be careful with strong magnets!
 

ForrestT

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Nov 15, 2019
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Waldo
I saw here on the forum that a guy mounted them back to back with nuts and bolts. I did this last week and have mounted them on the lid of my cart. Works great and plenty strong. Perfect for extensions and 1/4” ratchets.


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ForrestT

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Nov 15, 2019
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Waldo
I saw here on the forum that a guy mounted them back to back with nuts and bolts. I did this last week and have mounted them on the lid of my cart. Works great and plenty strong. Perfect for extensions and 1/4” ratchets.


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app



Coupon on the harbor freight website for $2.50 per magnet. Limit 4. For $10 I got a storage system to try and was happy with it for the money.


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darkzero

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Oct 20, 2011
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3,320
Location
SoCal
I saw here on the forum that a guy mounted them back to back with nuts and bolts. I did this last week and have mounted them on the lid of my cart. Works great and plenty strong. Perfect for extensions and 1/4” ratchets.


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app


yup, as I mentioned I've used them at my old work to hang wrenches & pliers vertically fine. For the use the OP described they'll work perfectly fine. Can't beat less than $3 but it sounds like he just doesn't want HF.
 

techieman33

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Jun 18, 2018
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Kansas
There are lots of bare neodinum magnet options out there in all kinds of sizes and strengths. A lot of them even come with countersunk holes or double sided tape for a more permanent mounting option. Buy the magnets in the size you need and mount them however you want.
 
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FigureItOut

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Sep 14, 2015
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Location
Bentonville AR
Even with a strong magnetic strip I've found that I still like dividers to keep everything in its place and parallel. The VIM magrail system is pretty close to ideal, very versatile, space efficient and compact. You can set it up for sockets, extensions, ratchets, wrenches and even pliers. It's fairly expensive stuff, but I don't think it gets much better. cb42d9ed7d692a62199024001a1c22d0.png

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Mr_B

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Nov 21, 2016
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5,374
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Reading
For extensions I just cut a piece of thick drawer liner size of area they using in the drawer, double side tape the back then measure and mark up layout and cut out the slots with a razor. then position it in drawer and job jobbed.
End result is like shallow foam shadowing and works great for extension .
If want magnets as well you could add strip magnet into first layer of drawer foam but I don't like too much magnets in a box as collects to much swarf over time and can start making tools magnetic or tarnish finish at contact points .
 
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lardy1

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Mar 17, 2019
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3,396
Location
Michigan
I use Raptor drawer liner and I just lay my extensions on it. They stay put.

I like Raptor liner for that reason. Some think it grips too much but I like it and nothing else to buy.
 

pugsl

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Apr 15, 2020
Messages
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side
I use the HF ones for light tools. Anything heavy just slides off.
 

pugsl

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Apr 15, 2020
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side
That tool box drawer is way to neat. Just wish I could keep one that way.
 
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