Organizing BIG Sockets......

[freudianfloyd]

I recently purchased both the metric and sae 1/2" drive deep socket sets from Tekton. The sizes range from 10mm to 38mm and 3/8 to 1 1/2".

The problem is the rails I have do not go up that big. I also have run out of room in the top of my box and cannot stand having part of a set in a different location.

So how do you guys do it? Do they make rails that big?
Here are the bags of sockets left to fit.

And here is where they need to go.

So besides getting rid of something, are there any innovative solutions for this problem?

 

[iamhomeless]

Your options are either ditch the Hanson rails, for some kind of adjustable magrail to save space, or buy a bigger tool box.

 

[JradM]

They don't make Hanson-style trays that big.

I use Ernst trays. The rails are serrated so you can adjust how dense your sockets are and the clips will stay in that position. They come in different widths and lengths. The rails are removable if that's your jam (I usually just grab the whole tray). I prefer the twist lock clips, but the other styles work just fine too.

They are also clips available to hold ratchets attached to your trays.

 

[Mr Ratchet]

I just keep my 30mm, 32mm and 36mm sockets standing alone. Since they are big enough diameter wise the stay in place. The same is true for all of my 3/4" sockets. Some of which are smaller than the 30mm in 1/2" drive.

Looks like you may have the room in your top drawer. You might have to rearrange the layout some though.

 

[joel63]

Is that your only box?
Maybe new bigger box time?

 

[m6z]

Magrails

 

[sparky 1971]

I have the Ernst rails that go to 1-1/4 and 26ism mm. I tried just standing everything larger than 1-1/4 and 27mm up. They kept falling over so I made a keeper using a 1X4 and 3/8 dowel pins. It's crude and far from fancy but it works for me.

The 3/4 drive sockets stay standing up with no help.

 

[Garcky]

Well, I don't see enough room in that top tray, regardless of the trays and racks. I'm guessing you're going to have to relegate the large sockets to some other drawer, or move some other sockets you rarely use out of the top tray there. I suspect your new, largest deep sockets are not going to be used very often, so they could probably live in some other drawer, but there might also be others in the top tray you could shift to a new location.

I rarely use 1/2 drive sockets, so everything 1/2" is in a separate drawer from the 1/4 and 3/8 stuff. But, my organization scheme has sockets and ratchets of the same drive size in the same place, along with other drive accessories of that size. I hate having to find the ratchets and accessories somewhere away from the sockets.

We all have our preferences, I suppose. Are your tool boxes full? If so, It may be time to go a little bigger in width on one stack. I don't know. It's a nice problem to have - having too many tools to fit in your tool storage space.

 

[Rickster]

Put all the 1/4dr stuff together in that top right short drawer to free up room for the 1/2dr sockets.

 

[Al Borland]

Get the bigger box.
This will make the garage look small.
Buy a bigger house with a bigger garage.
Now the truck looks small.
Get the bigger truck.
All this makes your wife's ***** look small.
Suggest implants.
Get divorced. (because you didn't say it made her **** look small.)
Lose everything.

 

[Buckgnarly]

I finally found a decent way to do mine using the Tekton socket trays...I beleive Ernst makes them? Modular and made in different lengths and widths.

 

[Blind1]

Move the unused sockets to another drawer or cabinet. There will be a lot of them.

 

[toolenthusiast]

Get the bigger box.
This will make the garage look small.
Buy a bigger house with a bigger garage.
Now the truck looks small.
Get the bigger truck.
All this makes your wife's ***** look small.
Suggest implants.
Get divorced. (because you didn't say it made her **** look small.)
Lose everything.

 

[eejack]

I finally found a decent way to do mine using the Tekton socket trays...I beleive Ernst makes them? Modular and made in different lengths and widths.

Are those 8 point sockets in the center of the first image or are they something else?

I ask because I run across a lot of square head bolts of various sizes and have a hard time finding sockets.

 

[Buckgnarly]

Are those 8 point sockets in the center of the first image or are they something else?

I ask because I run across a lot of square head bolts of various sizes and have a hard time finding sockets.

They are 8 point....mix of Craftsman and Mac...might be some proto in there too.

 

[619DioFan]

Are those 8 point sockets in the center of the first image or are they something else?

I ask because I run across a lot of square head bolts of various sizes and have a hard time finding sockets.

You need pipe plug sockets which are specifically for square head fasteners, I bought mine from sunex. very god quality.

 

[CHI_Tool&Die]

You could move all your bit sockets into another drawer. Get some Ernst rails and dump the DYI holders you have. Those wooden (?) squares and stuff look like they are taking up a lot of space. I don’t want you to give up the Hansen trays since you already own them but those larger sizes aren’t going to go in the trays regardless. Have you considered moving some of the lighter sets onto magnetic rails and putting them on the lid?

 

[Shelbylex]

A little on expensive size + requires more space, but if you were to dedicate a drawer to 1/2 set, may be Westling? I gave an example - they have both SAE and Metric. I probably should have bought them earlier - the prices went up at some point.

1/2" Metric Socket Tray 24 Pin – 9mm–36mm Impact Organizer | Westling USA

Organize one 1/2" drive metric impact socket set 9mm–36mm with the Westling 24-pin tray. Billet aluminum, optional engraving. Made in the U.S.A.

www.westlingusa.com

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I recently purchased both the metric and sae 1/2" drive deep socket sets from Tekton. The sizes range from 10mm to 38mm and 3/8 to 1 1/2".

The problem is the rails I have do not go up that big. I also have run out of room in the top of my box and cannot stand having part of a set in a different location.

So how do you guys do it? Do they make rails that big?
Here are the bags of sockets left to fit.

And here is where they need to go.

So besides getting rid of something, are there any innovative solutions for this problem?

If you're not going to fill in all the sizes, saw off the end of the hanson trays. This will save you probably 6 square inches alone. If possible, set the blue set vertical to free up space. IMO your bit sockets need to end up on rails. Those and the spark plug? sockets on the bottom left have way too much room between them. Depending on space, you can nest all of the "spark plug" sockets in the gaps between deep and shallow on a hanson tray.


I sit my bigger sockets out in the open, free standing. I pin them in place with other rails/trays so they can't move. My "big" stuff is like what you're talking about, sub 1.5 inches. Anything outside that becomes specialty, and thus is in another drawer. IMO your organization is too "not a lot of tools" style for the number of tools you have. You have a lot of sockets, but you're spreading them out like you're trying to fill out space in a drawer that's too big. Fill the trays or chop them, that's prime real estate. You can also send bit sockets to their own area. I've done this for sockets longer than 6", as I can't store them vertically in my main socket drawer. You can argue spark plug sockets are specialty, put them with the O2 sensor sockets, oil pressure sender, and wheel bearing lock-out sockets.

 

[freudianfloyd]

Thanks for all the ideas. Unfortunately a bigger box isn't in the cards.

I guess I could just put the larger sockets in my Lista cabinet, but I just like all similar tools in one location. I was hoping there was some cool product for the bigger sockets that I just had never seen.

As far as the rails I have for all the oddball sockets, they are 3D printed. I posted them before, as I was making them to fit into every last spare square inch in my box. They worked great until I got this new set of large sockets. They do not take up much space, as they were designed to fit in-between every small opening.

 

[speed bump]

I just leave them in a corner of the drawer. Otherwise you can always use socket rails.

 

[Jacobs976]

There's no good option for you really.

If you want clear markings and go up all the way you can get craftsman organizers but they take up a ton of space(1/2 sae and metric take up a 26" drawer completely, 3/8 leaves a little less than a 1/3).

If you want them all to fit but don't care about markings you can get rails(ideally mounted on a tray or the ones with a level bottom, cheap ones have a curved bottom so they don't stand well) and fit them all but have to look closely or pull a few sockets off the rail to find the right one.

Or you can make room and just set the few lone sockets in the drawer(potentially on a rail).

Also if you do 3/4 drive they make socket trays for them. Only work well for 5/16 to 1-1/2 though if you do shallow on one, deep on another. 1-5/8 to 2-1/4 don't really have any way to store other than loose.

 

[Pig_Pen]

I used to have that set and I just lined the big ones up against the side of the drawer. They're wide enough that they don't fall over but they might shift around a little bit.

 

[zmotorsports]

I realize those Hansen peg style socket organizers are all the rage but there is no way I could fit all my sockets into my socket drawer with those.

I have the magnetic socket trays for my most heavily used socket sets as I find myself removing them from the drawer and taking them with me on my service cart for many projects. For this I like the magnetic trays as they easily stick to either rail of my service cart or even a strut tower in a vehicle I'm working on. For my lesser used sockets I have the old school style that nests the sockets right against each other and for my large 3/4" driv set I have no rails at all and the sockets just free stand in the drawer. My large axle sockets can actually nest inside one another for easy and neat storage.

The good part is I have so many sockets they are stuffed into the drawer so that the large ones can't fall over no matter how fast I close the drawer, the bad part is I have so many sockets that I really don't have any room for more. If I stored my 3/4" ratchet, breaker bar, speeders and large prybar in another drawer I could potentially fit a few more but I'm out of space to store them in any other drawers.

It's taken me a few decades to get this drawer where I'm happy with it and can grab sockets easily and quickly but it's a freakin' heavy drawer. Luckily the dual slides on each side help with as many times as this drawer gets opened/closed in a day.

 

[m6z]