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Storing wrenches?

Rickkyyr8

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Oct 31, 2021
Messages
163
How are you guys storing your wrenches in the box? I hate the racks as they still take up a bunch of space. Does anybody make a magnetic organizer where you can lay them on their side to pick up more space? What have you guys done?
 
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Fedwrench

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Dec 9, 2007
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Valley of the sun
probably my favorite wrench holder is a pair of Snap KRA15A rails.


No wasted space, cut to fit most any drawer.

Worth mentioning: Toolbox widget:
 
OP
R

Rickkyyr8

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Joined
Oct 31, 2021
Messages
163
probably my favorite wrench holder is a pair of Snap KRA15A rails.


No wasted space, cut to fit most any drawer.

Worth mentioning: Toolbox widget:
I was looking at the toolbox widget but I heard their magnets don’t hold. I’ll definitely be looking on the SO option. My catalog came in today 😀
 

Lucid Moments

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Gainesville, Ga
I use the Toolbox Widget too and am happy with them. Don't have my drawer packed quite as densly as Snapped does, but it is a work in progress. And the magnets work just fine for me. The only downside to them that I have seen is that you can't just pick up the rack to take a set of wrenches with you if you need to be mobile.
 

MarvinBerry

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Oct 21, 2018
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Location
Enchantment under the sea - NJ
Ernst racks here too.

One metric one SAE. Stacked on top of each other in a deep drawer. I don't have that many compared to some people. Only the basics.

Portable boxes the wrenches get tossed into crown royal bags.
 

firstyearchevelle

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Sep 8, 2014
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Location
Northern NJ
probably my favorite wrench holder is a pair of Snap KRA15A rails.


No wasted space, cut to fit most any drawer.

Worth mentioning: Toolbox widget:
Another vote for the Snap on rails. I’ve been using them for years. I did look into the Widgets, they are nice, but at $1.50 per wrench they’re a little pricey.
 

Roobaix

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Mar 3, 2016
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255
Location
White Plains, NY
Trying to be frugal, I bought the Ernst and they didn't quite work for me in my box (SO KRSC326).

I just got the Toolbox Widget stuff and it's much better. I'm trying to cram 8 wrench sets into one drawer, my offsets don't fit but everything else does. The magnets are strong enough for me, I'm not rolling the box around though.
 

Zewnten

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Jun 11, 2017
Messages
1,803
If you really want to pack in space vertically get some wire coil guard from hydraulic hoses or make some, stretch to fit your wrenches and that packs them in tightest. A little annoying to use though

Second most compact way is going to be toolbox widget.
That's all I use and space them out where the bigger wrenches over lap like the poster at the beginning of the thread.
 

CHI_Tool&Die

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Jul 20, 2021
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Location
Chicago, IL
My home box is stationary so I use the Hall metal racks and then fill in with Ernst plastic racks.

At work, everything is Wera, Mac or Craftsman as those come in convenient holders and pouches.
 

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Matt XYZ

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Apr 11, 2017
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Germany
Has anyone compared the Snap On KRA15A rails with the ones available on Amazon? Are there major differences? I'm currently using Earnst holders which work fine but aren't long enough. I don't have access to a dealer and would have to order online. Obviously shipping makes Amazon the choice but the rail costs are about the same.
 

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Bucko

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Aug 23, 2021
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Here's a pic of one if my wrench drawers. I kinda went out of the box a bit and cut some of the basic wrench holders to fit what I had. I also used one or two of the Harbor Freight drawer organizers but cut it all apart with the band saw and used what I needed in each drawer. I am not a pro so I don't need the expensive stuff that they do.

 

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Citation

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Jan 20, 2016
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Indy
From a previous thread on this topic I use the spring/coiled wire trick. I had some 14g electrical wire that I wrapped around a 1” diameter pipe. It makes a loose spring. Set the wrenches between the coils.
Here is a similar example but with thicker wire. Thicker would be better but I used what I had
 

unslow1

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Mar 3, 2012
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7,880
Location
Illinois
Here's a pic of one if my wrench drawers. I kinda went out of the box a bit and cut some of the basic wrench holders to fit what I had. I also used one or two of the Harbor Freight drawer organizers but cut it all apart with the band saw and used what I needed in each drawer. I am not a pro so I don't need the expensive stuff that they do.

I've also cut a few of these apart but I just used tin snips.
 

Stobal

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Feb 15, 2014
Messages
180
If you have a 3D printer, or a friend with a 3d printer you can design exactly what you want and get very efficient with your space. It takes a bit of time both in design and print time but the materials are cheap and some like myself there is a great deal of satisfaction in problem solving and design process. Also on more common items you can sometimes find other peoples designs that they have posted for free.
 

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mrmowitallpa

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Oct 31, 2014
Messages
23
Location
Lehigh Valley, PA
How are you guys storing your wrenches in the box? I hate the racks as they still take up a bunch of space. Does anybody make a magnetic organizer where you can lay them on their side to pick up more space? What have you guys done?
There is a bunch of love here for the Toolbox Widget organizers, but I felt that they took up too much valuable space in my US general 44 in. box. The spacing of the wrenches was further apart than the OEM rails I am currently using. I wanted so bad for the Widget holders to be better, but they weren't in my situation (metric wrenches in one drawer, SAE in the other).

I ended up shipping them back and staying with my adhesive backed OEM rails. If I had to do it again, I'd buy the OEM rails with the magnetic strip on the back. The adhesive doesn't like to stick to the drawer liner, but I found they allow me to easily to trim to the size I need, fit all of my wrenches in one drawer, and are quite affordable.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0777H2Y1W/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Screen Shot 2022-03-26 at 9.13.57 AM.png
 

WillRead

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Joined
Apr 22, 2016
Messages
100
Location
MD
I've got both the snap on and the OEM tools version and they work great. The OEM tools seems like it might be made out of a little cheaper plastic but it works fine and honestly might be exactly the same.

You can also get them from AutoZone for cheaper than Amazon.
 

CJM8515

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Mar 8, 2014
Messages
9,292
Location
NJ
I bought the JSP Gripper type holder and they broke on day one. Plastic is too hard, especially for cold environments. Ernst are only a bit more and more pliable plastic.
thats a different model than the one I linked. Its been 5 years with mine, not a single issue.
 

username2

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Joined
Aug 22, 2016
Messages
970
I store them in a couple of different piles. A metric pile and an SAE pile and then ratcheting wrench version of each. And then a couple of piles for flare nut wrenches.

Six piles I guess.

I don't use the flare nut wrenches much so they might graduate to a wrench roll. In that case, four piles.
 

mikedodge

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Jun 27, 2017
Messages
2,770
I like the plastic wrench trays that the wrenches rest in and are easy to see the sizes and don't lock in place.
The last ones I got came from Amazon and I'm using one from each set I have because one of the old ones was already cut down to the size I needed.
 

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GeoBruin

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May 5, 2018
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3,735
Harbor freight has started carrying a lot of new "US General" branded box organization stuff. I just picked these up for what looks like quite a bit cheaper than the earnst even.

 
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