Super quick way to grab the right socket.

[Copymutt]

Lots of discussions on organizing and labeling sockets. Came up w/ this recently & now its my habit.
instead of spending time trying to create a visible size indicator on sockets I trained myself to insert my pinky into the socket and know immediately what size it is. Similar to knowing the distance of your spread fingers or knuckle to finger tip its a fast tactile method. Some of us would have to put on our readers just to see the socket markings and its not necessary. The most common from 3/8 up through 3/4 can be distinguished in a heartbeat by just a finger insertion.

 

[Dumber than lumber]

I think PB Swiss (and maybe others) have some color code for nut drivers. Probably for metric sockets as well. I can see how that would be useful for techs, etc.
Not for the colorblind though.

 

[Jswain]

Can you use your left hand for metric?

 

[Copymutt]

Can you use your left hand for metric?

Tried it, doesn’t agree. Must be Whitworth

 

[KnurledNut]

@Copymutt

Which finger on your pinky?

 

[Copymutt]

Took me a sec to get that!

 

[FMB4]

Vise grips. Problem solved.

Just kidding.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I typically look at the wear on them. I can look at a 13/14/15mm and tell you the size by eye.

 

[toolenthusiast]

Ahh, yes, the good ol’ finger check.

 

[xlowxyotax88x]

I use mine all day long I know which socket is where, the wear on them helps but also I guess muscle memory. I can usually tell by looking as well, that goes for heads of bolts as well

 

[cannuck]

I have plastic socket racks with center pins that stick out. On the end of the pin is a 45 degree slash and the size is stamped and filled with white paint to solve that problem.

 

[Walkers]

I used to be able to identify 1/4”-1” with a glance after years working on American cars. Then I started working on large gas pipes and flangedfitting where 1-1/16” was the small size. I lost my small so identification ability. Then my eyesight started going bad. Now I just grab the whole rail of sockets.

 

[Zewnten]

My sockets are store drive end up and I just write the size with a paint marker on that end.

 

[cannuck]

I used to be able to identify 1/4”-1” with a glance after years working on American cars. Then I started working on large gas pipes and flangedfitting where 1-1/16” was the small size. I lost my small so identification ability. Then my eyesight started going bad. Now I just grab the whole rail of sockets.

You must be close to my age! I still do pretty well with 9/16=14mm, 3/4=19 and 15/16=24 since I work with them a LOT still. Ditto 10 and 13mm that have been my daily use for a half century. All other sizes these days require a measurement or taking 3 wrenches/sockets to the job.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I used to be able to identify 1/4”-1” with a glance after years working on American cars. Then I started working on large gas pipes and flangedfitting where 1-1/16” was the small size. I lost my small so identification ability. Then my eyesight started going bad. Now I just grab the whole rail of sockets.

I can do 7-36mm in the common sizes. Can't tell a 28 from a 29, but I can call a 7 vs 8mm.

I have to look at it in metric, then work backwards to SAE. If it's like a rotted out 10mm size, it's 3/8. Too big 10mm, 7/16. Under an 8 or 5/16, is always 1/4. But I'm not picking up 11/16 from across the room. A lot is memory too. You're looking at caliper slide pin bolts, you're talking 12-14mm usually. Rarely 10mm, and it's so obvious. Rarely 15mm or 17mm, again, so odd it's obvious.

 

[ZRX61]

I use the same method to identify gf's in the dark.

 

[PelicanPines]

I use the same method to identify gf's in the dark.

Damn it... you beat me to it... that's obviously my line.

At the end of the day... ever sniff your finger and try to figure out who's nuts you were socketting?

 

[Mgdoug3]

I grew up with SAE. I can either look at the nut or look at the thread and figure out what size wrench or socket I need. Metric is harder for me because the the common sizes have changed. My John Deere equipment that's metric uses more uncommon sizes than my truck so I often grab the wrong socket or grab multiple ones.

 

[APEowner]

I never understood this whole topic. It's not like the fasteners have the sizes written on them. I store my sockets with the hex end up. I look at the fastener and then I look at the sockets and grab one that looks like the same size. I don't know or care what size it is.

 

[nbpt100]

I never understood this whole topic. It's not like the fasteners have the sizes written on them. I store my sockets with the hex end up. I look at the fastener and then I look at the sockets and grab one that looks like the same size. I don't know or care what size it is.

It depends how your brain works. Some people are visual, some are tactile, some like numbers, etc. I can usually tell what size socket I need by looking at the bolt/nut hex. I usually know from the machine if it is SAE or Metric. I often just count from the end of the rail. For Example. If I need a 10 mm 1/4 drive. I know it is forth from the larger end. I count backwards in my mind. 13, 12,11,10. It takes a second. When I was younger I could just look at the size and see it well. Now with Progressive lenses it is a challnege to read hard to see socket markings. Color coding would be nice. Getting old *****.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

It depends how your brain works. Some people are visual, some are tactile, some like numbers, etc. I can usually tell what size socket I need by looking at the bolt/nut hex. I usually know from the machine if it is SAE or Metric. I often just count from the end of the rail. For Example. If I need a 10 mm 1/4 drive. I know it is forth from the larger end. I count backwards in my mind. 13, 12,11,10. It takes a second. When I was younger I could just look at the size and see it well. Now with Progressive lenses it is a challnege to read hard to see socket markings. Color coding would be nice. Getting old *****.

Put dots on the rail for quick ID. My 3/8 rails are marked at 10/14/17. My 1/4 at 8/10/13. Makes finding sockets so easy at a glance.

 

[PoorUB]

I can do 1/4" to 3/4" by eye, and metric from 10 to 19 MM, as long as the heads are marked to distinguish from SAE to metric.

My Snap-On combination end wrenches hang on the pegboard numbers in because they hang funny with numbers out. It makes my buddy crazy when he uses my shop. He will turn them all around, then turn them back when he leaves.

 

[ZRX61]

Damn it... you beat me to it... that's obviously my line.

At the end of the day... ever sniff your finger and try to figure out who's nuts you were socketting?

Friend walks up to me at a LA bar, sticks a finger under my nose & says "Guess who I just banged?"
Me: Popeye?

 

[xjfish]

Seriously wouldn't work for me. Eyeballs only.

 

[DAustin]

I take a couple of sockets with me. The one I drop down into the engine compartment is the one I need.

 

[cannuck]

When I think about it: it IS more than just getting old. Prewar, fasteners were often made with the bolt head one size and the nut next size up. Strength of nut for some but from what I can deduce is that mechanics/workers usually had only one set of wrenches (especially in the Dirty Thirties). Also, people were working mostly with things made in their own country (or even their own town). Similarly I used to see M8 bolts with 13mm bolt heads and 14mm nuts right into the early '50s VWs. Fast forward to a world where SAE and DIN standards prevailed and things were far more consistent - then along came JA Pan & Co. with M8 fasteners using M12 wrenches, M10 with 15 then the US metrified Yank Tanks with M10 using 15 and 16mm and the whole thing of consistency is just plain gone.

Gee: reminds me of an MGTD I resto'd once. Whitworth, Metric and British Cycle heads on mostly UK threads, but some metric (but not with metric heads!!!!). Globalization happened to the UK long before the rest of us. The Empire, they say. At least me next MG resto will be a J2 so should be 100% UK standards.

 

[Bill Bowman]

I use 1/4" drive metric quite a bit. All the sockets are standing up in a plastic holder. I use 7m, 10m, and 13m a lot. Those 3 sizes I put upside down from the other sockets. Easy peasy to find 11m, etc.

 

[Jland]

I didn’t read thru all the posts so if I am repeating someone else... sorry. From my experience... the answer is EXPERIENCE.... at some point you get to a point and know “that’s a....” from my experience anyway

 

[CS454]

I really don't understand why everyone doesn't just use vice grips. Universal solution for BSW, SAE, Metric, JIS....

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

I’m to the point I can look at just about any socket or wrench or whatever and tell you the size. I also know where every size is because my rails have numbers on them but also because I know where my tools are lol.

 

[bwringer]

Almost everything I work on is an Asian brand, so my main socket rails are loaded only with the JIS appropriate stuff. For example, my main 3/8" drive socket rail has regular and deep 8, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19, 21, and 22mm. 95% of the time I can grab exactly what I need without even looking.

The other sizes (13, 15, 16, 18, 20mm, etc.) are on secondary rails banished to the back of the drawer.

Inch **** is all banished to a specific drawer in a secondary box. I only need it once in a while for mowers, Harleys, and other farm machinery.

YMMV, of course, but the principle is the same -- if your focus is on a certain group of machines, perhaps you can streamline the selection process by storing the seldom-used stuff separately.

 

[Copymutt]

Ever notice, even the most diehard metric tools still use 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 drives!

 

[tulowd]

In my humble experience/opinion, you haven't lived until you work on a car (like my Foxbody Mustang) that uses both SAE and Metric fasteners and a mix of trim screws throughout..... Then modify it with more modern/race suspension parts, some but not all of which are metric....... and for the ultimate fail, switch a bunch of the visible mixed fasteners to ARP 12 pt stainless......which are non magnetic........ In reality to do it properly, you require both 6 and 12 pt. sockets / wrenches to match the particular nut or fastener you are working on, in both chrome and impact versions....deep, semi deep, shallow and specialty. I have three oversized socket drawers in the garage workshop and am in the midst of trying to purge/re-organize them. Wesseling Machine is on my purchase list, also trying to come up with a way to store the extensions without rails; love the idea of grabbing without snapping or twisting, since all my toolboxes are stationary except the three service carts.

Also, this may be of interest to some of you...... recently read the whole series of Race Car Engineering books by Carroll Smith (Shelby's inhouse genius, also worked throughout F1 and as a consultant to Ferrari when Schumacher was there). I studied mechanical engineering and am pretty OCD, but the info, experience and commentary in these books is simply fascinating. The Fastener and Plumbing book is a great introduction to his style and knowledge; available from Smith's Estate directly, Pegasus Auto Racing in Wisconsin and all over the web. Written a long time ago, these still contain totally relevant data and information, especially the history of metallurgy and how we came to be here.

 

[Billy Jack]

I hear ya with the Mustang situation. I've got an '87 El Camino that's the same deal- assorted fractional & metrics with no real discernible pattern as to which sizes are where. Being an old car, there's a "road box" behind the seat that's twice as heavy as need be, with 2 sets of 1/4" & 3/8" sockets and wrenches. I can tell a 1/2" socket apart from a 9/16" without seeing the numbers, but a 9/16" vs a 14 mm ? No way in hell with these old eyes.
Also, I second the Carroll Smith book topic. Back in the 80's we embarked on a 30 year Winged Sprint Car journey and I bought the series.
Worthwhile reads for anyone involved with any kind of racing ventures.

Bill

 

[bwringer]

Yeah, whenever an American brand vehicle has darkened my garage, it's time to bring out ALL THE TOOLs.

I think the last one I monkeyed with was a Focus, which was all metric, but had a subtly hellish mix of American, German, and Asian components, fasteners, and standards. I'm not sure who was responsible for the decision to sprinkle all those extremely undersized button head Torx fasteners throughout the suspension and engine, but I'd like to have a few quiet, violent words with them in a dark alley.

It would seem that the designers and builders of the Focus were also wholly unaware of a phenomenon called "corrosion", so there are very few Foci left, which is something of a mercy.

And yep, the older Ford and Chrysler stuff with an unpredictable mix of inch and metric was a special sort of hell.

I think the absolute champion of unmitigated shameless muttery has to be Buell motorcycles. These were bodged together in the weirdest, least predictable manner ever seen. I've never seen such a contrast of engineering brilliance vs. bafflingly stupid in one vehicle before or since. You will peer into every drawer, then still need to hunt through every hardware and tool store in the city.

 

[Ton ton]

I'm a numbers kind of guy when it comes to sockets.

 

[Greg5OH]

I went with the Hanson rails which puts the sockets upside down and the number clearly visible on the post. I have also become more diligent in putting the socket right back once im done with it. they slide down and center themselves very easily. This has been one of the biggest efficiency upgrades for me

edit: i realized I was talking about the wrong thing...ya you just eyeball it with enough time looking at fasteners. If the walk is more than a few feet away i grab the socket i think it is, and the one size up and 1 size down. 99% of the time it works all the time.

 

[Bubba Fett]

I just grab a few that are in the size range and see which one fits. It's usually 10mm anyway.

 

[dr_clyde]

I'm pretty good at just eyeballing what size things are.

I've worked with fasteners my entire adult life, you get used to it.

Most things I work with are SAE, but even on a metric vehicle or machine it isn't that big of a deal.

If you know who makes the thing, where it was made, and what the design intention was you have half the battle solved.

Knowing a machine is German I automatically know it is metric. US maker, probably SAE.

My Mazak lathe is a Japanese machine, everything is metric. The old US made manual machines, SAE.

You'll also get used to using the same tools for the same things. I know that high pressure gas regulators use a 1-1/8" wrench for the valve nut. The ends of the gas hoses use 11/16". All the tee slot hardware on the bridgeport uses a 7/8" wrench, the adjusters on the mill itself are 3/4". After a while you get used to seeing sizes and can fill in the blanks.