I hate socket organizers.

[kingston]

It Doesn't matter how many sockets you have you will never have them all. I second the Westling machine organizers. I use them in Combination with Mechanic's timesaver magnetic stainless steel mats. I also like my Montezuma US made large box LA400B.

 

[jakemac]

It Doesn't matter how many sockets you have you will never have them all.

It doesn't help to have tool related OCD. I also have tool related AD.......

........... Oooooooo ! What is this ? Can we see a better picture ?

 

[Chadwilliam1]

at home my chrome sockets are in Hansen trays and my impact sockets just lay on their back I slowly open and close the drawer so they don't move around.

at work my 1/2 set is in a Hansen tray but my 1/4 and 3/8 are shadow boxed because at one point my box was for FOD but the Hansen tray doesn't work because I have up to 1-1/2 in 1/2 drive and I also have 1-3/16 short and deep with no place to call home.

 

[PowderKeg]

I'll third the Westlings - any odd empty spots can be filled with a few specialty sockets, U-joints, or short extensions to help keep the OCD at bay...

 

[GIJoe4500]

I'll third the Westlings - any odd empty spots can be filled with a few specialty sockets, U-joints, or short extensions to help keep the OCD at bay...

OCD still kicks in for some people. I don't want some random socket sitting in the spot that I could fill in with a specific socket. There might as well be labels, because thats kinda how i treat mine... 6pt down one side of the tray, 12pt down the other. Granted, I won't know what to do with myself once I have them all filled in... Also wish Westling made a 3/4" drive set, but that would be HUGE. Will have to try to find me another way to store those.

My shallow set...

My deep set...

 

[gsmornot]

Only deep and short ? What about 6pt, 8pt, 12pt ? Do you have any Whitworths ? How about the old USS standard ? How about mid length ?

It never ends. You will never have enough. Welcome to the nightmare.

6 point and 12 point both deep and short both impact and chrome for 3/8 and 1/2. Thankfully I stopped short of 1/4 impact and just stuck with chrome.

 

[ganymede]

I like the sheet metal ones . They take up surprisingly little space ..

 

[ganymede]

Slowly building a set .

 

[dclassical]

I am normally very OCD in various domains but missing sockets does not bother me. When I need them I will get them.

Weird how we can be OCD for some things (I love my garage clean and organized, labeling shelves, bins, ... and also sorting my shirts,pants,... when hanging them) and not others.

Now if the sockets were not in sequential order that would really bother me!

 

[The Frisco Kid]

Gotta catch em all my friend

Under-rated post...

 

[young_buck]

You and me both I thought I had every socket I needed until I started organizing the drawer, now I see a bunch of empty spaces.

 

[Squankum]

Also wish Westling made a 3/4" drive set, but that would be HUGE. Will have to try to find me another way to store those.

Somebody on here started making a Hansen style out of wood for 3/4" dr., google about.

 

[Midman914]

It doesn't help to have tool related OCD. I also have tool related AD.......

........... Oooooooo ! What is this ? Can we see a better picture ?

I believe that to be a valve adjustment tool.

 

[trout]

I like rails. Really hard to make organizers work in a 26" box.

 

[Catamount]

I'm a huge fan of the cheap HF plastic rails. I've stuffed a lot of sockets into one drawer by using them and have been able to rearrange the rails as I add sockets.

They're fairly stout, too.

 

[GIJoe4500]

Somebody on here started making a Hansen style out of wood for 3/4" dr., google about.

If I do decide to build one, I think I'd try my hand at making it out of aluminum. I'd need to get a full 3/4" drive set first though!

 

[SiGmA_X]

I like the way you work sir. I just don't get why people get so bent out of shape about having their organizers filled completely. I'm glad when I don't get 9 and 20 mm in sets. To each his own.

I don't have to have mine filled (and mine aren't labeled, so I put other sockets in them, such as spark plug) but I have to have a 9!

sberry.... I swear I mean this with the greatest of affection, but I would bet
you make your own lampshades out of used pineapples and that your
mobile phone has a giant valve sticking out the top of it.

Used pineapples eh?? Is this a Canadian joke? (I have recently observed a Canadian fellow making jokes about banks, pineapples, and debt).

 

[sberry]

I wouldn't want to move that much weight to get a common socket.

 

[Rico.]

Used pineapples eh?? Is this a Canadian joke? (I have recently observed a Canadian
fellow making jokes about banks, pineapples, and debt).

lol... No. The phrase just came out the top of my head.... Just a way
of saying our good buddy sberry comes accross as wonderfully eccentric.

 

[Badasssapper67]

Somebody on here started making a Hansen style out of wood for 3/4" dr., google about.

[/URL][/IMG]

 

[Badasssapper67]

Not exactly what I consider a "finished" project, but this is how it is so far....

 

[sberry]

lol... No. The phrase just came out the top of my head.... Just a way
of saying our good buddy sberry comes accross as wonderfully eccentric.

Not eccentric but as practical as it can get. It took a while, I fiddled a lot along the way. I learned to include the duty cycle and will go for function then modify the form.

 

[sberry]

I got to have a 9 too, the 2 or 3 that came with the Sears set will suffice since I cant recall ever using it. Its got no place on my cart and I aint giving it a free joyride every time I open a drawer hundreds of times to get something else, I put it in a drawer with other things I might use once a week or less.

I am in my own shop also so I don't have to worry about other peoples space. I provide all the tools, not everything I own has to go in a box.

 

[kingston]

I believe that to be a valve adjustment tool.

Correct! Snap-on

 

[karrbass4life]

IDK. I kinda like the Hansen style. But sockets are my mental disorder. For some reason I need 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" short, deep, and mid-length. Metric and standard. 6pt and 12pt. Impact and chrome. Swivel sockets...in chrome and impact.

 

[XxToolAholicxX]

I thought I had lots of tools. But once I started to organize found out how little I had.



I am a Toolaholic,Sometimes I regret it,Especially when the Toolman won't give me no credit

 

[PKile]

sberry.... I swear I mean this with the greatest of affection, but I would bet
you make your own lampshades out of used pineapples and that your
mobile phone has a giant valve sticking out the top of it.

Rico,
I assume by giant valve, you are using the British lexicon referring to a vacuum tube rather than a faucet? Here is a photo of a similarly eccentric mobile phone...wish I could find one:

Cheers,
Paul

 

[franzdom]

The Hansen issue got me worse in a way, as I like my organizers similar but they don't work for insert sockets, swivel sockets etc. So I switched everything to MTS magnetic and then switched again to Westling. They are so nice and now they are finally organized well. I am glad I don't have their etched ones though, that would be problematic. They saved a TON of space BTW.

 

[mrjaw14]

take a lable maker and re-lable your socket trays.

 

[franzdom]

They are so tight there isn't much room for labels, I need to take a pic, it looks good and works great!

 

[BK13]

I would highly recommend a set of semi deeps. They have their place when working in cramped engines. I bought mine when i got sick of fighting scion xb's alternators at work.

Oh, trust me, amigo, I drink from the semi-deep well. I have Snappy 3/8" 12 point in SAE and metric, plus SAE 12 point in 1/4". I need to pick up the other 1/4" 12 point set; and then 6 point 1/4" from SK; 6 point 3/8 from somebody... Snap On, KoKen, GW or whoever; and the newish 1/2" Snap Ons.

 

[ecotec]

What about BSF, flex and then you can start on impacts

XZN, E-Torx, Torx, SAE hex sockets, Metric hex sockets, specialty sockets…

 

[methomas70]

No kidding. I own sockets now I'm sure I will never use and I have them in deep and short.

Get rid of them today and you'll need them tomorrow!

 

[Brandon_Lutz]

I go nuts just trying to fill out my Lisle Magnetic trays. Hansen's would drive me up a wall if I used them

I just finally filled out my 3/8 SAE lisle tray and I picked it up to view what I needed for the metric tray and started to bang my head. I have all of the standard sockets filled out but I still have half of the deeps to go.

 

[kythri]

My shallow set...

Wow, are all Westling trays that space-wasteful?

 

[GIJoe4500]

Wow, are all Westling trays that space-wasteful?

Yes. But the "wasted space" is nice for access. Gives you room to get your hand in there to pull sockets out.

 

[franzdom]

I thought the opposite, they are quite compact and saved me a ton of space.

 

[kythri]

I'm just looking at the picture there, and comparing to my el-cheapo Lowes/Kobalt plastic trays that were on sale over the last couple of Black Fridays.

There just seems to be a lot of gap/wasted space. I've not had any access issues with my trays, and would need another drawer or two if I had them arrayed on Westling trays, if that picture is any indication.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

I've started using those $4 magnet bars from HF to stick my sockets to in the tool trays. No worries about snapping on and off to a peg, easily resortable, and can hold different sizes without care about drive size. Organized how I use them.

I think I may start using those for wrenches as well soon.

 

[Farmall450]

HF works fine for me?