extra sockets

[blackwire]

Free socket thread
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=172529

 

[cm cm]

Those sockets have been by your side, when times are good or bad, but you absolutely have to ditch them right now during a pandemic?


I’d say get together with other like minded people and pile together to make cheap sets that can be put in zipper bags and put in a vehicle, or a secondary/ apartment box.

Get creative, the tool gods are not pleased with those that toss good tools.

 

[Robinson1]

I used to be awful at flea markets and yard sales to buy an entire box of random junk for $5 or so thinking I was going to piece together a set of high quality tools that way. But the fact of the manner is it quickly got out of hand. And I ended up with many buckets of random tools I'd never use.

A few years ago I started cleaning out.

First thing I did was go through everything and sort it out. Screwdrivers in one bucket, pliers in another, 1/4 drive in one bucket ect and so forth.

Then I went through and pieced together a set of mid range tools for my tractor. Focusing mainly on hydraulic hoses and small field repairs. Wound up being about 8 wrenches a couple screwdrivers and a couple pairs of pliers.

Then I did the same for the implements making sure to only include the sizes I needed.

Ended up putting a bigger tool box on the tractor to hold it all.

The rest of what was left (who am I kidding you couldn't even tell I'd taken anything out!) Was further sorted into full sets and partial sets. This took forever especially with sockets as I went so far as to sort by brand.

The full sets sold fast on ebay. The partial sets took longer. In the end I finally just dumped what was left into flat rate boxes and started the auctions at 99 cents plus shipping. All in all it took about a year.

I made about $500 after fees and I'm guessing I had somewhere around 80 hours is sorting and listing. So you're not going to get rich by any means!

I've still got more handtools than I'll ever use in my lifetime but atleast I can mostly find what I'm looking for now withing 5 minutes of starting the search.

I did keep alot of duplicates wrenches in common sizes just in case I needed to modify something down the line. And looking back I wish I would have kept a few handfuls of common size 1/2" drive sockets as they always seem to turn up missing while working in the field.

 

[Lassen Forge]

They need to go in a separate toolbox and then probably donated to the local school so kids that have nothing can learn the trades. I was looking - I have a pile of duplicates of everything, and other than stuff where you *need* 2 of something... it's all just taking up space I could be putting new stuff in...

 

[Tallpilot]

I used to be awful at flea markets and yard sales to buy an entire box of random junk for $5 or so thinking I was going to piece together a set of high quality tools that way. But the fact of the manner is it quickly got out of hand. And I ended up with many buckets of random tools I'd never use.

A few years ago I started cleaning out.

First thing I did was go through everything and sort it out. Screwdrivers in one bucket, pliers in another, 1/4 drive in one bucket ect and so forth.

Then I went through and pieced together a set of mid range tools for my tractor. Focusing mainly on hydraulic hoses and small field repairs. Wound up being about 8 wrenches a couple screwdrivers and a couple pairs of pliers.

Then I did the same for the implements making sure to only include the sizes I needed.

Ended up putting a bigger tool box on the tractor to hold it all.

The rest of what was left (who am I kidding you couldn't even tell I'd taken anything out!) Was further sorted into full sets and partial sets. This took forever especially with sockets as I went so far as to sort by brand.

The full sets sold fast on ebay. The partial sets took longer. In the end I finally just dumped what was left into flat rate boxes and started the auctions at 99 cents plus shipping. All in all it took about a year.

I made about $500 after fees and I'm guessing I had somewhere around 80 hours is sorting and listing. So you're not going to get rich by any means!

I've still got more handtools than I'll ever use in my lifetime but atleast I can mostly find what I'm looking for now withing 5 minutes of starting the search.

I did keep alot of duplicates wrenches in common sizes just in case I needed to modify something down the line. And looking back I wish I would have kept a few handfuls of common size 1/2" drive sockets as they always seem to turn up missing while working in the field.

That's the honest truth. Keep a whole set...keep a few more if you want vehicle, etc sets, find a good home for the others or put them in the scrap bucket.

 

[Semi-hole mechanic]

After Dad died I got all of his tools and gave all of my cheaper sets to my son along with Dad's old CMan hand box ( a Xmas present from me in the early 70s). All of Dad's extra 1/4 and 3/8, i sorted through and was able to make a pretty complete set (mm and sae) for the GF's tool bag. I was also able to put together a 3/8 drive set of both sae and mm for her son who had just turned 16 the rest I sorted into a couple of gallon ziploc bags and sold them for a $1 a bag at a yard sale.

 

[Mohawk Dave]

Old 3 drawer Craftsman carry tool box.

Any "extra" quality sockets go in there... And then when I need a dedicated this or that for the mill, or lathe, or drill press etc, I grab one out of that box.

Or if I need to modify, cut, weld, etc... Grab one out of that box.

Just today I grabbed a 10mm hex socket from there to keep on a ratchet at the 6" mill vise as I change jaws often. (Grabbed a 3/8" ratchet out of the other "extras" box)

Oh yeah, and big or small impact sockets that won't sell on eBay or offer up go to the hydraulic press box.

 

[jocww]

Ill take you 10 and 15mm, and 1/5 and 9/16 Im always losing them!!!! Or people keep taking them whene they work on their cars at my house. I even paint the numbers green so I dont confuse them with their tools, and so I can see them easier.

 

[v1ru5879]

I made the list to see if there was any potential resale value, I personally do not care to use the 12 points, which seem to be the majority of what has been accumulated. I figure I live within 10 miles of enough parts stores, hardware stores, and tool stores that if I ever need one of these rare gems I can go pickup a new one. I plan to just put a listing on craigslist $5 for the whole.

 

[dubdoc]

Note the box on the lower right.

 

[HalfTonTom]

I'll bet you don't find any 10mm sockets in there...

 

[dubdoc]

I'll bet you don't find any 10mm sockets in there...

With a VW in the garage, NONE whatsoever.

 

[tncumminsguy]

I have 2-3 of everything because I consolidated from two garages to one, So i upgraded box sizes and i split everything between my big box and my HF tool cart. I do have a drawer of random sockets that I need to organize not pictured. I work on stuff in the driveway often so I need the tool cart to have a lot of stuff.



Untitled by tn97d90, on Flickr

Untitled by tn97d90, on Flickr