HF 44" drawers & wrench organization

[cheechi]

I searched through a few toolbox showoff threads and didn't really find what I was hoping. I have 3 sets of wrenches not counting stubby (incomplete and needs to be upgraded) and flare nut wrenches. One is a 20pc Gearwrench so it's not 'complete' in all sizes. The other two are close, 6-19 and 1/4-1" or 7/8 on the other. Cman RP 6 pt & Kobalt 12pt, The Kobalt set might be missing 1 or at most 2 sizes at least compared to the Cman. Right now the RP set sits in this and every wrench spot is full so I 'think' it's complete. I always forget what 32nd size wrenches are in a set. Anyway.

I would like a way to put if I can the two big sets in one of the 44" wide drawers either buying the right item or orienting them the right way. Obviously the 1" wont fit in a smaller drawer and I prefer them not to be sideways.

Optionally, if I have to do 3 total sets per drawer I could make a SAE drawer & another for metrics, but again I don't have a set of rails/organizers that will make this happen.

Can you show me some photos of your wrench drawers in the HF 44"? Thanks.

 

[Provincial]

Having spent years being mobile and having to split up my tools among several boxes light enough to move alone, I developed the habit of splitting up my wrenches into different drawers (sometimes even different boxes), with the size break depending on the capacity of the drawer. Most of the time I split them with the 1" staying with the smaller wrenches. If I keep the adjustables in there, the 12" stays with the small wrenches.

This doesn't work well if your OCD makes you keep all the wrenches of one pattern together!

I'm subscribed to this thread because I am preparing to move tools into the HF 44" roller I bought recently.

 

[jmm]

I forget who makes them, but Sears carries trays I use. I have two of them (one for SAE and one for Metric). There are spaces enough for combos, spares, and flare nut wrenches through 20 mm and 3/4".

I use 4 drawers in the 44" for my wrenches though.

 

[sberry]

Complete is a word for ocd. I have a little of it but some due to the fact I am not the only one using it. If it cant be easily duplicated and doesn't have a general hanger then it gets put back where its sposed to be and if you need it the thing is likely in plain sight.

Why worry about 'sets" ,,, either you need it or don't and we actually do have an 11 its out of the way in a drawer away from the commons and wont be paying by the piece for another one any time soon. If I was to organize a box where it went all inside would simply toss all the tools in the bottom drawers, leave the top at height I wanted to use open and as I went to work start stripping out ones I need from each set as I needed it and toss it in the top drawer where I could reach it. Once in a while glean the stuff I hadn't used in a while and toss back in the bottom out of the way where I didn't need to cart it by opening a drawer full of hardware every time I needed a 9/16.

Hence the service cart,, so you can look down on most things you need while standing. Too tall is a problem and a lot of folks use the top of a chest on a cab and I hate that if this is really a go to deal,,,, way too slow.

I don't mind looking for the occasional tool but the first pic is what we use with some minor changes after the pic and all the rest of it the kind of stuff,,, we own or "got to have" but I don't need to open a drawer carrying it all every day.

If I don't use it in a week or isn't for "general use" such as a tubing wrench or my Snappy 6 ft flanks its in a drawer where eventually it can be found if we really need it.

 

[Firestarter Fred]

I forget who makes them, but Sears carries trays I use. I have two of them (one for SAE and one for Metric). There are spaces enough for combos, spares, and flare nut wrenches through 20 mm and 3/4".

I use 4 drawers in the 44" for my wrenches though.

Do you have any pics of said trays? I use plain wrench racks, came with the wrenches I purchased. No name China wrenches, they work for me. I keep SAE in one drawer and MM in another. I have maybe 40 wrenches total. If I could keep them in 1 drawer on my hf box I would be interested in that. So the trays you mentioned have peaked my interest, and any pics would be of help. Thank you.

 

[sberry]

In the first pic above the box has a strategic location, it lives within 3 or 4 ft of where its at and we have another "station" with the high frequency tools laid out for the type of work.

The rotary works because the tools serve 2 bays around the hoist, I am still going to re do the sockets on the one I call my cart in first photo above, I also want to do them by size.

Back to the service chest you can see a simple tray for a few metric tools I need from here, a 13 a 15 and a couple sockets. If we cant find somethi9ng then its in the other rack, we split and duplicate to keep it to a minimum but we don't need to fuss on and on, toss back easy to find and self explanatory.

I have had good flat rate guys that come to work, at first they gonna want to bring their own tools but it takes about a 5 minute tutorial and it falls in, have had a couple of them say,,, I work in front of my own chest but this is easier.

 

[wait4me]

Here's my 44" HF wrench drawer. CM raised panels in a rack made from a wire shelf. Gearwrench reversibles in their original racks. Stubbies in racks made from molex.

 

[crewchief888]

MTS has wrench racks, std and reverse in several colors, i believe they have strip magnets on the back to keep them from moving in the drawer

i have a few in my home boxes

Cm had some plastic organizers as well, much cheaper quality.

i also have some metal racks i bought from matco many years ago.

SO sells a "universal" type wrench rack, 2 seperate rails with an adhesive backing

 

[Firestarter Fred]

Here's my 44" HF wrench drawer. CM raised panels in a rack made from a wire shelf. Gearwrench reversibles in their original racks. Stubbies in racks made from molex.

That certainly gets my vote for best looking wrench drawer in a 44 HF. Nice!

 

[Dale1962]

heres my wrench drawer 3 sets combination, a set of open end, gear wrenches, some box end, line wrenches, and ignition wrenches and a few c-man ratcheting box end. all in the top drawer

 

[Dale1962]

socket drawer.. I have 2 boxes so far

 

[mattamd_xp]

Here's mine. A simple coiled wire to hold all the wrenches as a way to maximize storage. I've since added a set or 2 of wrenches and they all fit

 

[John316]

Here's mine

 

[steel 35]

Here is a tray that comes from the same place as the box and I really like it, for some extra wrenches its great. There are two sizes over 1".

 

[jmm]

Do you have any pics of said trays? I use plain wrench racks, came with the wrenches I purchased. No name China wrenches, they work for me. I keep SAE in one drawer and MM in another. I have maybe 40 wrenches total. If I could keep them in 1 drawer on my hf box I would be interested in that. So the trays you mentioned have peaked my interest, and any pics would be of help. Thank you.

They're called 'Sort a Tool' wrench trays. Sears has them. I have two, and they do just fine for me. I have them in seperate drawers, but you might fit them in one drawer...if you required two. Like I said, each tray holds multiple different sets. I prefer them to most other wrench storage because it's a pretty economical use of space, yet it's organized. Those trapezoid shaped racks sure do look nice, but you're wasting a ton of space.

Here ya go:

 

[MackMan]

I got the sort-a-tool based on reviews here and really like it except for one thing is that it doesn't fit extra long or short wrenches (short fit in it obviously but aren't real secure). I just bought the "Wrench it to me" today, but haven't put it in my box yet, so we'll see.

 

[cheechi]

Here's mine

Pic 2 & 3 where did you get those long rails? I think that's what I want.

Here is a tray that comes from the same place as the box and I really like it, for some extra wrenches its great. There are two sizes over 1".

I have this tray. It would be good if you only had one set, 3 flares, what 19 total stubbies, and allens with no organization of their own. I've been trying to measure it out to cut out just the wrench holder from this and integrate it into what I want but it's too big or I haven't seen it in the right light or whatever.

They're called 'Sort a Tool' wrench trays.

I won't say I don't like this, it's on the short list.

Yes I'll admit I'm a pretty OCD. I use SAE so infrequently though it helps when I do need it.

I have worked with a system similar to yours sberry but my brain hates it.

 

[radgto]

Pic 2 & 3 where did you get those long rails? I think that's what I want.

Those are SO cut to fit rails... I have them too and you can fit a ton of wrenches into a HF 44 drawer. I take pics of my drawers tomorrow night at work and post up.

 

[k-os]

They're called 'Sort a Tool' wrench trays. Sears has them. I have two, and they do just fine for me. I have them in seperate drawers, but you might fit them in one drawer...if you required two. Like I said, each tray holds multiple different sets. I prefer them to most other wrench storage because it's a pretty economical use of space, yet it's organized. Those trapezoid shaped racks sure do look nice, but you're wasting a ton of space.

I use the same thing. I have a pair of Gearwench Ratcheting Wrench and Craftsman Industrial Static for each size in the holder.

 

[jakemac]

I use them as well. I have one in my 26" box and one in my 5-drawer cart. Very handy.

 

[MackMan]

I do love the SortATool, but I've ended up with a mismatch of lengths so it' not the best option for me anymore... Got an extra super long 7/16 that doesn't come close to fitting. That is my only gripe. The metric/SAE mix doesn't bother me at all actually.

 

[John316]

Pic 2 & 3 where did you get those long rails? I think that's what I want.
.

All my wrench racks are Ernst products. The long rails are Ernst 6015:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ERNST-Mfg-6...d=100011&prg=1005&rk=1&rkt=5&sd=120746312411&

I did not need to cut them

 

[bobcatdan]

MTS has wrench racks, std and reverse in several colors, i believe they have strip magnets on the back to keep them from moving in the drawer

i have a few in my home boxes

Cm had some plastic organizers as well, much cheaper quality.

i also have some metal racks i bought from matco many years ago.

SO sells a "universal" type wrench rack, 2 seperate rails with an adhesive backing

I pretty much only use the 2 piece unversal style as they have no limits to organize my wrenches. I like my tool packed in as tight as possible without piling them on top of each other.

 

[jmm]

I got the sort-a-tool based on reviews here and really like it except for one thing is that it doesn't fit extra long or short wrenches (short fit in it obviously but aren't real secure). I just bought the "Wrench it to me" today, but haven't put it in my box yet, so we'll see.

I've got extra long wrenches in my SAE tray (through 3/4"). The thing stays stationary, so I have no trouble keeping stubbies or flare wrenches in there either.

 

[OxJaw]

I use the Ernst racks as well and love them. I used to have all the combo wrenches in one drawer and then all the ratchet, line, offset wrenches in a second, but I recently reorganized so all metric are in one drawer and all sae are in the other. I really liked the Ernst rails for the combos because you can flip the second rack around so you can fill the whole drawer.

Check out their site, you find what you want and shop around to get better prices
http://www.ernstmfg.com/
This how I originally had them set up (pic from Ernst website)

How I have everything now

Long rails are these
http://www.ernstmfg.com/tool-organi...e-saver-wrench-rail-organizers-red-none.html#
Others ones are a mix of these
http://www.ernstmfg.com/tool-organizers/wrench-organizers.html?cat=111
http://www.ernstmfg.com/tool-organizers/wrench-organizers.html?cat=110

 

[cheechi]

I have some ideas, thanks. Keep them coming if you got any more.

 

[AV tinker er]

Here are my wrench drawers:

My Metric wrenches are actually in my 5 drawer HF cart, the drawers are similar in dimension.
<a href="http://s1353.photobucket.com/user/jrcmjunkmail/media/2013-12-09104423.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1353.photobucket.com/albums/q677/jrcmjunkmail/th_2013-12-09104423.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 2013-12-09104423.jpg" style=""></a>

The second is of my SAE wrench "organization" in my 44".
<a href="http://s1353.photobucket.com/user/jrcmjunkmail/media/2013-12-09104452.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1353.photobucket.com/albums/q677/jrcmjunkmail/th_2013-12-09104452.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 2013-12-09104452.jpg" style=""></a>

 

[radgto]

This is my work set. HF 44" box and SO cut to fit rails. I cut enough off each one to handle two 10 piece sets in my home box.

 

[cheechi]

Are the SO cut to fit rails above the same size or do they have smaller cradles for smaller wrenches etc? Are these the right parts for what you have?

KRA15A Wrench Organizer. For smaller wrenches.
KRA22A Wrench Organizer. For larger wrenches.

If so it looks like you have the larger ones.

It looks like the smallest you have on the right is an 8mm. would anything smaller fit the way you have that set up? on the left what's your smallest cman size there? Do the small ones jump out of the rack when you close the drawer?

 

[May Pop]

Here is my HF box wrench storage and 3/8 drawer.

 

[radgto]

Are the SO cut to fit rails above the same size or do they have smaller cradles for smaller wrenches etc? Are these the right parts for what you have?

KRA15A Wrench Organizer. For smaller wrenches.
KRA22A Wrench Organizer. For larger wrenches.

If so it looks like you have the larger ones.

It looks like the smallest you have on the right is an 8mm. would anything smaller fit the way you have that set up? on the left what's your smallest cman size there? Do the small ones jump out of the rack when you close the drawer?

I bought the ones for the large wrenches as the slots are deeper otherwise the bigger ones I used to keep in there wouldn't clear. I had up to 27mm and 1 1/4" in there at one point.

The metric side is 7mm to 19mm and 8 to 19mm ratcheting.
The SAE side is 1" - 1/4" and 3/4 - 3/8" with a couple special wrenches and open spaces. Not a bad wrench count for a shallow depth box.

I think their the same as the Ernst ones only longer. I have 24 slots on each side and cut off 10-11 slots so they're longer than shows on SO's site. I believe they were about 24 inches long out of the box.

They don't pop out when I close the drawers because the light wrenches are deep in the slots. If you angled them you could get smaller wrenches to fit.

All the slots are the same size and depth.

I really only have them like this because I work in a food manufacturing plant where tool accountability is critical.

 

[Dale1962]

Here is my HF box wrench storage and 3/8 drawer.

where did you get the dividers? looks cool

 

[OxJaw]

I think their the same as the Ernst ones only longer. I have 24 slots on each side and cut off 10-11 slots so they're longer than shows on SO's site. I believe they were about 24 inches long out of the box.

All the slots are the same size and depth..

That's why I like the Ernst rails that I have (pictured above), they are made to be angled and the slots get larger the farther up you go to accommodate both small and large wrenches. The ones I have are different than than the snapon ones. They also angle the wrenches farther back the larger the size gets so the large wrench will fit in swallower drawers.

The snapon ones do hold more wrenches though. The Ernst hold 20 and yours are holding 24.

 

[sberry]

Here is my HF box wrench storage and 3/8 drawer.

I like that, I understand it. So much easier to discipline getting it back without the fuss. I like throw it where it goes storage. For working out of that would take it over all the racks they made.

I got a lazy susan socket rack in one spot and its ideal due to access but on my other cart its a 3 sided walk up and I am working on a stacked terrace rack from boxes although some more simple pegs would work. About 95% of the socket work from this box is simple impact and 90% of that is in 4 sizes.

I cleaned it out a while back. Had somehow accumulated 9 9/16 chrome 1/2 drive sockets on it.

 

[May Pop]

Thanks for the comments. I made the originals for a large Cornwall box at the Church where I volunteer. Sae and metric each had its own mess. 6-10 guys working out of one large box and nobody putting the wrenches away properly. Me included. Never able to find a damn 10 MM wrench. So I whipped these up out of 1/8x2'' flat stock which has a joint at each interior intersection. After that a quick wipe off and toss into the appropriate slot.
The guys never had a problem after they were installed.

 

[rocco]

I've got the Wrench Boos trays, about 4 years old and they are fantastic, the keep all the sizes together for easy use.

 

[phantomrebel]

Here's mine. A simple coiled wire to hold all the wrenches as a way to maximize storage. I've since added a set or 2 of wrenches and they all fit

What gauge wire are you using

 

[mattamd_xp]

I stripped down 12-2 for the black/white and neutral makes it nice quick visualization of metric/SAE/special

 

[powertrip]

Top drawer, all craftsman pro with Ernst rails

 

[cheechi]

I finally figured out how I want to store my wrenches in a way that I can get as many as possible into one drawer in the 44" HF box. I have tried the SO rails, Hansens, none really fit well or as many as I wanted without wasted space. Link to pics

I saw one person sorted their wrenches with socket rails so I gave that a try. Well it's ok, but the bigger wrenches didn't sit in there and stay put as well as I wanted, so I figured if I lift them up so they don't touch the bottom of the drawer and get pushed up out of their space.

Now with a piece of wood underneath I can get them to stay in place as well as put the stubbies flat underneath where they overhang them. I doubt I will need a more elegant solution for the stubbies since they so rarely get used.

I do have another set of SAE & Metric ratcheting stubbies and for now I am still using the blow molded trays as storage for them. This solution probably won't work as well for those but a thinner version of this is on the short list of things to do about them.