Socket Organization

[Cryptic1911]

haha, I had this exact idea myself.. funny that I just stumbled on this thread accidentally. I bought about 30 socket rails over the weekend, so this will be a project on the list shortly

I just use my home made socket tray, costs less than $20 and waaaaay space efficient than the brand name ones.

 

[nyrapscalion]

Wow...the pics are awesome... Funny this came up now, I spent last saturday grabbing sockets from all over the house, the car, the desk at work, wherever and organizing them. I have some holes. I find the socket rails are my organization method of choice. I don't have enough of any drive size/depth/brand to really pick anything different.

 

[lauver]

Here is mine, kinda like organized mayhem

Vegas,

That's not mahem. That's just organized and highly efficient. I like what you've done and how you made excellent use of top bin of your chest.

 

[VegasBruce]

Vegas,

That's not mahem. That's just organized and highly efficient. I like what you've done and how you made excellent use of top bin of your chest.

Thanks, I've been working out of that for about 30 years. I keep thinking of redoing it but I wouldn't be able to find anything.

 

[lauver]

Thanks, I've been working out of that for about 30 years. I keep thinking of redoing it but I wouldn't be able to find anything.

If it ain't broke no need to fix it.....

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

Flat bar delivered today. Elroy refined the design by adding some corner relief which helps the bottom of the tray lay a little flatter.

i want to make one like that. i can never find socket holder i want.

anyways, would you tell me what i need to make one? (what i use to bend the metal)

also where i can get the stuff?

thank you.

 

[Elroy]

anyways, would you tell me what i need to make one? (what i use to bend the metal)

In Elroy's case these socket trays were bent on a 90 ton Cincinnati Form Master II press brake with Wilson Tooling. A simple pan brake would perform the same function.

The blank was produced on an Amada Vipros CNC turret press. A band saw would do the same thing but not nearly as accurate or quickly.

also where i can get the stuff?

2B mill finish type 304 stainless steel is readily available from any steel vendor. It helps when your employer has several tons of stainless sitting on the floor and the Amada is lightly loaded.

 

[gearbuilder]

These metal socket trays were made on a small finger brake. They are a few years old, I still need to paint them but I like the way the bare metal looks.

I made the wooden box over 35 years ago for my first metric sockets.

Jamie

 

[atari]

Heres how I do my 1/2 3/8 and 1/4 Non-impact. The deeps are all plastic Craftsman rails and the impacts are on a Hanson tray

 

[jride200]

Does anyone know who supplies the metal socket trays to Cornwell and Mac? I'm hoping that there is an OEM supplier I could buy from. They're just too expensive to buy off of the truck. Thanks, Jason

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

I like Elroy's solution, I wish that he took orders. )

Adam

 

[Mickey O]

Here's a pick of one of my favorite style socket trays, they were from S-K, the picks aren't great but it might give you guys some ideas. They are mad from two pieces and "hinged" to block them from falling out, they also have a fold on the front with the socket size, it'd be nice to make up some of these.

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

In Elroy's case these socket trays were bent on a 90 ton Cincinnati Form Master II press brake with Wilson Tooling. A simple pan brake would perform the same function.

The blank was produced on an Amada Vipros CNC turret press. A band saw would do the same thing but not nearly as accurate or quickly.




2B mill finish type 304 stainless steel is readily available from any steel vendor. It helps when your employer has several tons of stainless sitting on the floor and the Amada is lightly loaded.

you should make some. if price is right. (i give you measurement)

and i tell other people how good it is.

 

[gilbo]

anybody order from these guys


http://performanceracingmall.com/RHEngineering/Socket_Organizer.html

i like the idea of the 45 degree angle

 

[knappmenterprises]

I saw those also and love the idea, especially part about buying 4' lengths and cut to fit, but, when you include price of pegs at over a buck a pop, I'm looking at 300 bucks, and that is just for my overflow, stuff that doesn't fit the hansen model ie swivels's,impacts, spark plugs, where don't have as broad a selection of sizes. I already have 8 of hansens, sae/metric 1/2, 1/4" and doubled on 3/8's for 6 and 12 point and love how clean and organized and zero wasted space.

 

[TripleE]

I love this!

I just went plain Metric in one drawer and Standard in the other. Now I need to spend some $$$$





I noticed your writing was black. I assume you just colored it in with a black Sharpie. I found it very easy to do by just "dabbing" the marker on the raised lettering, rather than trying to write it out; if that makes sense.

 

[fordcragar]

Re: Socket Organization -- Update to earlier posting

I been using the socket organizers from china freight, they seem to be working fine. I used to use the rails, and would actually anchor them down to the drawer; but I like the new ones even better. I'll carry the whole organizer over to the job and then place it back in the drawer when done. The rails would always tip over and didn't seem to be as neat. For the most part the the plastic trays seem to be holding up fine, I have about 9 of them and have only broke on socket post off. I've even cut some of these things down to hold special sockets or to place them in available positions in the drawer.

Several years ago I was looking for a way to organize my sockets. After looking at different socket holders I chose the HF organizers, probably because they looked the same and were cheaper. I don’t buy a lot of stuff at HF, but some of their stuff seems to work. Anyway after transferring some of my ½” drive sockets to the organizers, I noted that the 1 ¼”, 1 1/8”, 1 1/16” and 1” sockets didn’t fit very well in the organizer. After putting up with this for quite a while I started looking at some of the other organizers and picked up a different one at a swap meet. .

This is a side-by-side picture of the HF organizer and the one that was picked up at a swap meet. The HF organizer is 17 inches long and the other is 18 ½” long; which is more than enough extra room for the larger sockets.


Both organizers have the same number of socket pegs.


This is a picture of the the only identification that was on the longer (18 1/2") organizer.

 

[WhiteTrash]

Elroy,
I realize you did this over a year ago, but do you have any finished pictures? How did you attach the bails? Did you just use a rivet? I can only find pop rivets and don't want the extra length involved with them. I have been wanting to make some for quite some time. My pops had a few trays when I was growing up, but I haven't seen any up close in over 20 years. I did some surfing and I found this diagram from an expired Snap On patent. It seems like it could work, but I don't know if I will be able to make it fit right using the tools I have available. I will be trying to make them with a a cut off wheel and a Harbor Freight 18" brake. Any pictures of yours would be greatly appreciated.

 

[alecmcmahon]

Think a few of you have these, i think i picked mine up at harbor freight

 

[tehfade]

^^^^ I like the gray plastic holders, but I wonder if they're better with some brands than others, because my sockets don't quite fit in mine.

I'm building a CNC router right now, and when it's done, I'm going to make something along those lines, except they'll actually fit.

 

[alecmcmahon]

^^^^ I like the gray plastic holders, but I wonder if they're better with some brands than others, because my sockets don't quite fit in mine.

I'm building a CNC router right now, and when it's done, I'm going to make something along those lines, except they'll actually fit.

I had to take a file to some of the socket holes to make them fit propery, the 1/2 , 12 mm and 13 mm slots were way too tight.

 

[illmatyk]

I just use my home made socket tray, costs less than $20 and waaaaay space efficient than the brand name ones.

I just bought me something similar to that in Sydney the other Sunday for AUS$15. When I get more sockets and have completely filled the one I have now, I'll do something like this. Thanks for the idea.

 

[franzdom]

I have the Hansons but right now I really like the Mechanics Time Savers vertical magnetic style, and am rounding out my collection, originally bought as Blue Point. They make really nice products, I also really like their 37 hole 1/4" bit holders.

http://www.mechanicstimesavers.com/shop/product.asp?catID=1

 

[WhiteTrash]

I would the Hanson or Grip-on trays, except my drawers are not tall enough for my deep sockets to stand up. Perhaps when I upgrade tool boxes, I will try to get a few more deeper drawers, but for everything else I have, having shallower drawers but more of them has worked out well for me. Just about every drawer is neatly organized and uses all of the drawer width, depth, and height.

The down side to the drawer inserts above is they are not portable. When I just take individual sockets with me to my tool cart and then whatever the project may be, I lose them. Even when I come back after the job and see I am missing it, it is no where to be found. And I am not a big fan of not being able to really adjust it to fit my tool configuration.

For quite some time, I had plans to make my own metal socket trays with bails to hold all of my sockets. My sets are complete with every available size, so I don't foresee a need to expand the individual trays. If anything, I would only be getting a new style of sockets and they would warrant their own tray to be made. But then I found a few old ones that I tried out for awhile. And I am not a big fan. The bail works great when in place, but often fall out of place and then I get sockets everywhere.

I actually found this site because I was looking for ideas to better organize my sockets. And this thread was the first I read. I really liked Elroy's design, as I was looking to do the same thing and trying to figure out the best way to do the bail. After seeing that he made the trays and then dropped the sockets on rails in the trays, I think this will be the route I choose. It appears that he plans to still add bails (and probably has by now) but I will forego that step.

I already have my sockets organized on the rails. 3/8" drive 6 point deep on one rail, 1/2" 12 pt shallow on another, etc. I will cut the rails down to the needed length and form a tray around them. The tray sides will prevent the sockets from moving side to side and should help stabilize them on the rails. It should make them easier to carry as well because the entire weight of the rail and other sockets won't be dependent on how well a few sockets are gripped by the rail.

I had concerns about how to keep the rails inside the trays. My first thought was to fasten them to the bottom of the tray. This would leave something sticking through the bottom, making it difficult for the tray to sit flat and asking for it to scratch something. I could counter sink it, but then the tray metal would have to be thicker than needed adding bulk, weight, and cost. I wanted the rails to be removable for the times that the rail clips needed to be adjusted to apply the right amount of grip on the socket. Over time and repeated use, they tend to loosen and the sockets come off to easily.

My current idea is to run a pin the length of the tray. It will go between the rail clips and the rail in the valley formed to strengthen the rail lengthwise. I will try to get around to fashion something up today to give a visual idea of what I mean. At this time, for my needs, I think this will be the most effective method. And I should be able to do it with the tools I have on hand.

 

[mdbeck1]

...
I had concerns about how to keep the rails inside the trays. My first thought was to fasten them to the bottom of the tray. This would leave something sticking through the bottom, making it difficult for the tray to sit flat and asking for it to scratch something. I could counter sink it, but then the tray metal would have to be thicker than needed adding bulk, weight, and cost. I wanted the rails to be removable for the times that the rail clips needed to be adjusted to apply the right amount of grip on the socket. Over time and repeated use, they tend to loosen and the sockets come off to easily.
...

Why not use some small screws to fasten the rails in and put some rubber "feet" on the bottom of the tray?

For quite a while I used my old SK trays to hold my sockets. The sockets were on rails and I just laid them in the tray. I finally decided to build my own trays. I think there's a picture of it on the this thread but here's another one...

You can't tell it in that picture but the rail that the tall socets is on is on a hinge and folds down so that everything fits in the shallow drawer.

 

[WhiteTrash]

The problem with the rubber feet is the heat here in Texas. The adhesive use to hold it on wouldn't last. As it is, I usually have to glue my rear view mirror back up every couple of years. My suction cup GPS mount falls about once a week. We will see though. Perhaps I can get the pull through design like for glove boxes, but those are like a buck a piece, I don't really want to spend $80 on rubber feet.

I do like the hinge idea though. But I think I am going to keep my trays smaller. Most will only have one rail per tray. Some of my bigger stuff won't fit on 1 rail though. My 1/2" SAE 12 pt shallow sockets take up more than one rail, but they will go in the same tray side by side. and will still be able fit in my drawers laying on the side.

 

[mdbeck1]

The problem with the rubber feet is the heat here in Texas. The adhesive use to hold it on wouldn't last. As it is, I usually have to glue my rear view mirror back up every couple of years. My suction cup GPS mount falls about once a week. We will see though. Perhaps I can get the pull through design like for glove boxes, but those are like a buck a piece, I don't really want to spend $80 on rubber feet.

I do like the hinge idea though. But I think I am going to keep my trays smaller. Most will only have one rail per tray. Some of my bigger stuff won't fit on 1 rail though. My 1/2" SAE 12 pt shallow sockets take up more than one rail, but they will go in the same tray side by side. and will still be able fit in my drawers laying on the side.

You can also get the rubber feet that use screws to hold them on (I'm in Oklahoma so I understand the heat thing).

The hinge idea was a solution to keep things flat. You could make the box just about any size. My deep impact sockets came in metal boxes. I'm thinking about opening them up in the drawer and putting the corresponding shallow sockets inside the lid (on rails). That way I could take the whole set (or part) to the work fairly easily.

I gotta agree with the big stuff though.. I've got a 3/4" drive shallow set that came in a metal box. A single rail wouldn't be enough to move them around as a set.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

I need to join in on the aluminium sheet action and sort mine out better:

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

I really like the tray bucket style. But don't have any equipments to make one.

I will never find one that I like. haha

 

[PT Doc]

Kobalt has 4 rails that are mounted on a red rectangular plate for 20. Could be a good deal if your sockets all got on the predetermined rail length.

 

[illmatyk]

I need to join in on the aluminium sheet action and sort mine out better:

Moose, quick question: on the hex/allen sockets, is there a reason some are gold and some are black? Question came up in work earlier this week and I just remembereed when I saw your pics.

 

[balane]

Snap On metric hex bits are gold and SAE are black.

 

[Guzzi]

If you don't have allot of sockets, and don't expect to add to your set, this is a cheap easy solution using a few strips of wood and some forestner bits.

 

[ThatsWhatSheSaid]

If you don't have allot of sockets, and don't expect to add to your set, this is a cheap easy solution using a few strips of wood and some forestner bits.

That looks great

I may do something similar for some of my other tools as I already have the grip trays. I tried just using foam board but it didn't hold up so the wood should work better.

 

[balane]

I posted these in another thread but I'll put them here too. I'm in the process of making these from some blocks of plastic I have. My goal is to put all of my sockets into these and unlike the MTS holders (At $25 a pop.) these will be custom made to fit my socket sets. I'm now trying to find some strong magnetic sheets to put on the bottom. I'll end up either painting these or having them powder coated.

 

[cokeb5]

balane how is the weight with that holder in plastic? I made one like it using 1/2"x 2 1/2" 6061 alum. for my 3/8" sockets and it was so heavy I could hardly lift it from the top of my box.

Craig

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

Should be about same as MTS socket holders.

BTW, where you buy block of plastic? And what did you use to cut them?

 

[illmatyk]

Snap On metric hex bits are gold and SAE are black.

I see, thanks for clearing that up.

 

[balane]

The plastic weighs very little but the weight of 24+ sockets adds up so you can tell you're holding something. Search for a store called TAP Plastics. They are fairly common and have a good supply of bulk plastic. Actually it's a great store and when you walk in to look at all the different kinds of raw plastic available your creative juices start running. I used typical wood working tools. Drill press, band saw and table saw. I used fine tooth blades adn set my drill press on its fastest speed but that's it.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

Moose, quick question: on the hex/allen sockets, is there a reason some are gold and some are black? Question came up in work earlier this week and I just remembereed when I saw your pics.

The Gold Torx are Snap-on Heavy Duty Removal ones, the regular Torx have a gunmetal/black finish. (My Torx Plus/Plus Tamperproof are like that.)

As said below, Snap-on's metric hex drivers are gold and Imperial are black/gunmetal.

I have some metric hex drivers in those pics with a black finish, but they're Stahlwille.

Snap On metric hex bits are gold and SAE are black.

Correct, but i don't have any Snap-on Imperial hex drivers.