Ratchet and socket accessory storage/organization

[zx2slow]

There are plenty of top drawer photos posted showing sockets on trays, rails, etc but not a lot of help out there for those with many ratchets, extensions,flex joints, breaker bars, speeder wrenches, etc.

My top drawer is packed with sockets and I have a drawer just for ratchets and accessories that is cluttered but workable. I'd love to know if there are any products of DIY solutions to make things more organized.

 

[Mr Ratchet]

I just lay the drive tools out in an orderly fashion. Extensions are held in place by the edge of the Hansen trays on one side and I riveted a piece of aluminum right angle to create a pocket. Flex joints are held in a Hansen trays for torx/hex sockets.


The 3/4" drive is big enough to stay put without dividers or trays.

 

[lauver]

zx2,

More drawers... the empty kind, the shallow kind, and the drawer lined kind.

Drawers, if you got enough of them, are organizers in and of themselves.

Sockets need additional organization, so do wrenches and pliers.

Screwdrivers, drive tools, hammers, punches & chisels, prybars, and picks do not necessarily need additional organization. Hell some of these could be combined in the same drawer without any additional organization, i.e.

Hammers, punches, & chisels, or
Prybars, picks, & gasket scrapers.

Or, thinking categorically... you could have a mixed drawer of "DC Electrical Tools", i.e.

Side cutter,
Needle nose plier,
Linesman Plier,
Wire stripper tool,
Wire crimper tool,
Electricians scissor,
DC test light/probe,
Multi-meter,
Shrink tubing,
Cable ties,
Crimp connectors,
Wire nuts,
Soldering iron & solder,
Heat gun,
etc.

Just food for thought.

Keep it simple. Make it fit your needs. Don't slice and dice too fine just for the sake of "organization". And last but not least, the only person that needs to be impressed with your organization is you.

 

[zx2slow]

Kinda what I am doing now, just the ratchets and drive accessories drawer is a bit cluttered. I would like to keep them in the top with all the sockets but there is not enough room.

 

[oldldh]

Just a little drawer for my extensions and adapters...

It's all I need...

But, it's not all I want...

 

[bobcatdan]

I don't know if my layout gives much for ideas, but this is how my ratchets and extensions are layouted.

 

[Tim37]

I have the ones I use laying in the top of my cart beside my sockets the rest are stored in a bottom drawer

 

[Richard Cranium]

My first attempt at shadowing.

 

[lauver]

Here's another idea to consider... wall storage.

This is a small pegboard I have mounted over my roll cab. I store a lot of duplicate, oversize, and seldom used drive tools. This frees up space in my cab drawers and is easy to find and access these tools when needed:



I also kinda like looking at it when I working in the garage. I change it up every now and then just to keep it fresh and interesting. At one point it was all Plomb/Proto drive tools... now that was easy on the eyes.

Also note, Richard Cranium's drawer and my pegboard are two different approaches to the same problem (i.e. drive tool storage/organization). Take you pick, use both, or invent yet another approach.

 

[that one guy]

I've always liked the idea of lining all the "complete" drawers in my box with thick foam, and then cutting out the outline of the tools to keep them organized.

http://www.pdsupply.co.uk/standard-products/foam-cut-outs-for-tidy-tool-location/

 

[unslow1]

This is my current system. I too am looking for something better that doesn't use a whole drawer.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I made a sheet metal tray for my ratchets and extensions.

 

[MrWrencher823]

i got this ernst organizer from our cornwell guy and used that to organize a vast majority of my extensions, adapters and swivels.
it works pretty good I suppose

 

[fanders]

I used a slab of foam, cut to shape, to organise my 1/4" sockets and extensions. I'll probably do the same thing with my 3/8" and 1/2" stuff when I get time:

View media item 48353

 

[gearhead1]

i got this ernst organizer from our cornwell guy and used that to organize a vast majority of my extensions, adapters and swivels.
it works pretty good I suppose

Great idea. I will do that.

 

[doug.j]

My solution was to manually mill cavities in acetal plastic. I keep the 3/8 ratchets separate. I recently purchased a 3D printer and although I've only made a few tool holders (pry tool and drivers) I can see this might be the best way forward. If I had a CNC mill or laser cutter those would be good options too.

 

[raddksn]

I use these small parts bins, I think Plano makes them. A buck or two apiece and I cut out the dividers to suit my needs.

 

[MikefromNZ]

https://imgur.com/a/AyHgx

 

[matemike]

Not sure what a tool specific foam costs. But a yoga mat from a sporting goods store might be a workable alternative for cheaper. That's my plan. Then someday I'll have nice drawer pics and will share the experience. Until then, everything fits and I'm happy for that. It's just a mess. I hear the "clinging" every time I close the drawer and it irks me.

 

[gdocktor3]

Perhaps a sliding drawer tray would help. I recently found a guy on eBay who makes them for cheap and powder coats them. If your drawers are deep enough, you can keep the sockets below, while storing the extensions, adapters, universals, and possibly ratchets if they're deep enough in the tray on top. I messaged the guy on eBay about prices for some 27" long, 6" wide and 1" deep. He can make them any size. Here's the snap on equivalent, just way overpriced.
https://store.snapon.com/Sliding-Trays-C675991.aspx

Also, if you have the room, keep an eye out for a cheap or used hanging side box. I picked up this older, well made Husky box for $75 I think off cl.

 

[Dookie2122]

I use the Rubbermaid cutlery trays for ratchets, they are affordable and come in many widths / lengths, Wal-Mart has them...for extensions I use the Ernst organizer trays, they come in Red, Blue or Black, Summit Racing has the best price on them.

 

[kylefitz]

An alternative to the trays posted above would be some Schaller bins like they use in lista cabinets.

 

[Greg85mcss]

I keep my most commonly used ones in the screwdriver holes in my service cart along with ratchets & a few other things I don't want rolling around. I have room for the rest in front of my socket drawer. But need to decide how to keep them in place. I was thinking about a socket rail or something like those ernst trays.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Al Borland]

Harbor Freight socket rails, cut to length to fit front-to-back in my toolbox drawers (26" Standard Duty Craftsman box, 20+ years old). Sockets are on their side with the sizes facing up. Looks like rows of sockets with chrome dividers. Deep impacts on the left, then shallow impacts, deep chrome, then shallow chrome. Extensions are next to the rails of sockets, alternating direction so they fit neatly. Ratchets are the same way next to the extensions. Speeders are above/behind the ratchets and extensions and the weirdo sockets (Hex,Torx, etc,) are on short rails in the bends of the speeders. There's a drawer like this for 1/4", one for 3/8", and one for 1/2".

 

[Finky198]

Box is kinda small Pelican 0450 tool chest.
The top trays sockets and 1st drawer is ratchets/accessories. I don't keep 1/2" in my box it's on rails at my bench as well as my impacts in there cases.

1/4" and 3/8" drive tools

Socket are on craftsman plastic rails cut to size 250+ bits and sockets in 16"x9" top tray

 

[L.Cheapo]

I bought some Craftsman socket rails on sale years ago. They were worthless for sockets, but cut down and used for extensions against one side of a drawer they work pretty well. Fill in the open spots with other tools.