Westling socket tray modification

[afazz]

I'm constantly trying to strike the perfect balance between organization, ease of access, and density in my toolbox. I use a mixture of plastic rails and Hansen trays, but I have started to replace some of the plastic rails with Westling trays.

I had a set of 3/8" drive 10-19mm swivel sockets, plus 1/4" drive 8mm and 10mm on one rail. I also had a Snap-on low profile set in the bulky plastic case. I thought you guys might like my solution.

Before:


I started with a Westling 3/8" metric unmarked tray in black.


Then I cut off the pegs I didn't need. I'm using the "6-17mm" pegs for an 8-19 set.


I tugged out the last two pegs.


I turned two reducer pegs on my lathe.


I made a tool to press them flush.


Ready to load up!


Done! I saved a little bit of space while adding spots to fill in the skips in the Snap-on set.

 

[Mohawk Dave]

I like.

Westling should sell blanks with the holes pre drilled and let you buy 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 stands.

Necessary for hex, torx, double square, and spline drive sets. At least for me.

 

[Strouty]

Mohawk, we should suggest that to them, that would be an awesome idea.

 

[trackwelder]

How well do these trays hold the sockets? I'm looking to swap out a few Time saver racks in my portable tool bag. Nice modification by the way!

 

[Sam'sAutoParts]

I like it! Well done

 

[Richard Cranium]

I think they would sell if they did that. That away you could make your own sets with which ever pins you needed. Please suggest this to them...Rich

 

[Strouty]

I would like to see the bases all be the same size too, it drives me nuts that my 3/8" metric is different than my 3/8" SAE. If they made total blank ones and gave you a bunch of pins in all drive sizes you could drill your own spacing. I would like that a lot, then my big sockets would fit instead of sitting next to the tray with empty pegs on it.

 

[LXCam]

I would like to see the bases all be the same size too, it drives me nuts that my 3/8" metric is different than my 3/8" SAE. If they made total blank ones and gave you a bunch of pins in all drive sizes you could drill your own spacing. I would like that a lot, then my big sockets would fit instead of sitting next to the tray with empty pegs on it.

And what would the point be of them even building any???.

I do like the idea of them offering predrilled plates and let you install the size pegs that suite your needs. During that last sale they had I almost made the switch. But after seeing guys show the limitations of accommodating larger sizes that killed it for me. My sets don't stop at your normal everyday sizes.

 

[L.Cheapo]

Mohawk, we should suggest that to them, that would be an awesome idea.

If they did this, I would buy them.

 

[afazz]

The standard rails have their place, just like any of the other organizers they aren't perfect. Westling could sell 40 versions and still not make all of us happy! What works for me is a modified collection of different organizers. If you look closely at my picture, every organizer is modified or otherwise not used exactly as intended.

 

[LXCam]

The standard rails have their place, just like any of the other organizers they aren't perfect. Westling could sell 40 versions and still not make all of us happy! What works for me is a modified collection of different organizers. If you look closely at my picture, every organizer is modified or otherwise not used exactly as intended.

So true and that you have.

 

[SierraDenizen]

Inspiring modification. Learned a lot from this discussion. Thanks all!