Socket storage?

In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :

My 1/4's go up to 15mm, both chrome and impact. That covers a majority of what I fool with. Y'all know me to be a Honda man with some Toyota thrown in. 10, 12, and 14 covers most all of that.

 This thread got me to thinking about stuff. I have always been over the top with my tools. I love them. Not afraid to buy them. Then I got to thinking about how sparse my 1/2 impact stuff is. It must be my locale and lack of corrosion. I just don't have occasion to go heavy on much. Never need cheater bars or 4 foot long ratchets. My longest ratchet is the 24 inch SnapOn in one of those pictures. Served me 30 years. I don't remember ever breaking it. I'm sure I'd have a lot of heavier tools if rust was a consideration in my area.

In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :

Just the thought of 1/4" impact has never occurred to me. I didn't even know that they made them. Maybe we just don't see them on the store shelves around here. 

I have a 1/4" drive impact gun, but only because it came in a set and I don't think I've ever used it for anything other than driving in deck screws. 

In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :

The lack of rust must help a lot.  I suspect my Tennessee Miata could get by with mostly being worked on with a 1/4" set, but even the Florida S10 has enough surface rust on the frame I would not want to mess with smaller sockets/ratchets.  And forget anything that has lived through more than one or two Ohio winters.  Because of all of this, most of my extensions, wobble extensions, u-joints, spare ratchets, etc, are 3/8".

First pass after cleaning parts/paperwork from the current project out of the top of the cart, and gathering up a bunch of sockets and other regularly used tools:

I think at least two rails will get stashed elsewhere - I don't really use the 12pt metric sockets much, ditto for the torx bits.  Might also see if I can consolidate some of my 1/4" drive sockets onto the same rail as the 3/8" sockets, so they are easier to just grab and go.  I also need to clean out the parts from the edges of the cart, so screwdrivers can go in the slots made for them.  For vertical storage, I think I'll only use the 1/2" and 3/8" holders, I just don't have enough 1/4" sockets.

Since the lid never gets closed, I might get some magnetic hooks to stash some more stuff on, like a pair of safety goggles and other lightweight items.

First, thanks again to everyone for ideas.  Between comments here and some more toolbox tour videos, I've got things more organized based on both type of tool and amount of use.  For starters, I've decided the cart is likely to have the lid open under all but extreme circumstances, so it can't be closed in its current configuration, but can be with some changes, if need be for transporting.

The latest pic:

I just used the 3/8" socket trays for SAE and metric, and the 1/2" trays for metric.  I don't use enough 1/4" sockets to devote tray space.  However, I did change up a socket rail and now I have one rail with 8-17mm 3/8" and 5-14mm 1/4" sockets that I can quickly grab and take with me to wherever I am working in the garage.  The silverware tray may not be the most space efficient thing in the world, but it has been great for storing the tools I used most often.  I suspect its makeup will slowly change depending on what projects are being worked on.  My work gloves now all have a permanent home, so I don't dig around looking for them anymore.  There's a variety of JIS and flat bladed screwdrivers on the left, and my most used work light on the right.  
 

For the inside of the lid, I am not crowding it too much:

I added a magnetic tool rail, I don't have anything specific that is going there, but I think it will be home for tools that are in use mid-project, so I am not digging them back out of their individual drawers each time I go to the garage, a set of safety goggles, a couple flashlights, a magnetic work light, my metric-inch conversion chart, and in the upper right, a tray to hold my phone.  Normally, I leave it by the door to the garage to keep it safe from getting damaged, but now that it has a dedicated space, it can stay closer and easier to access.

The top drawer on the left holds my metric combo wrenches, and top drawer on the right holds additional pliers and vice grips.  
I think all those together comprise the tools I am using 75+% of the time in the garage.  I've already noticed it taking less time for me to get started when I go into the garage, and less time to clean up when I shut down.

Other drawers in the cart and in my rolling toolbox are still evolving slowly.  No target date on when this organizing is "finished" but the big hope is that every tool will have a specific place, so I don't have to go hunting for anything.

So, yeah, this has gone a little beyond socket organizing.

Looking at those boxes of gloves there in the top of the cart, have you considered the HF magnetic glove holder ? They are available in any color and they work well. I have been completely satisfied with mine.

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

I have a 1/4" drive impact gun, but only because it came in a set and I don't think I've ever used it for anything other than driving in deck screws. 

Do you mean a 1/4" hex impact driver?  I use mine in automotive work all the time. I rarely use a manual screwdriver. 

In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :

I had, but then kind of wrote them off. However, looking at the lid, if I shuffle a few things around a bit, I could put two of them up on the upper left inside corner of the lid (one for each style I use), and free up a bit of room.  Would need to remove them if I close the lid, but I already need to make some changes to close it.  Still need to reserve some space for my mechanics gloves, but it'd give me a bit more space for a hammer or something else.  I was planning on hitting HF up anyway for a magnetic drink holder so I'd have a safe place for a beverage nearby - it also usually lives over near the garage door, so I don't knock it over.

Updated after an evening trip to HF.  My impact wrench is temporarily occupying the spot where the glove boxes used to be.

I swear there is a system here. It's chaos to anybody else who sees it though. 
 

In reply to wearymicrobe :

I definitely don't see it.    But, if you can find what you need quickly, then it sounds like it works for you.

In reply to eastsideTim :

that looks really good, nicely done! 

I use a combination of some old Craftsman organizers and some new(er) HF organizers. Both are good for their own reasons, the Craftsman are MUCH larger/take up more space though. And I almost think I'll switch to all HF at some poitn for their compact size.

Pic of my socket storage from a year or so ago.

" />

Here's another vote for Hansen trays. They're fantastic.

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

There's lots of drawers directly under these things, but I've never regretted going to pegboard and magnetic socket trays. 
 

Those are *exactly* what I've been looking for!  Can you share a link to where you found them?

jnoiles said:

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

There's lots of drawers directly under these things, but I've never regretted going to pegboard and magnetic socket trays. 
 

Those are *exactly* what I've been looking for!  Can you share a link to where you found them?

I think these are the Lisle magnetic socket trays

This is an older picture when I was organizing my new 73" Icon box. I'll try to get an updated picture but I like the vertical socket trays the best. Standard sockets on the left and metric on the right. Don't even have all my sockets in this picture.

Updated picture now that I'm reorganizing my tools since I got my top box. This is the current layout of my socket drawer, with the added storage of the top box, I moved the ratchets and extensions into a separate drawer.

I just ordered some of the Chinese knockoff Hansen trays on Amazon. I'll post some pictures once it's all organized. 

Since this thread is active again, I thought I'd do a quick update.  The layout I chose is working very well.  Most of my work only requires tools from the top of the box, and one drawer of metric combo wrenches.  Might see if there is a way to rearrange the top to lay out one set of combo wrenches up top, too.

Also, having the magnetic strip on the lid to "put away" tools that will be used again soon has been very handy.  I've managed to not crowd it up so much that it is useless.

Biggest problem right now is finding a flat space for manuals and papers.  Might see if I can adapt an office desk-style document holder into the toolbox at some point.

We just moved into a brand new house, so I have a garage again, after shadtree-ing for twenty years. So I immediately started looking for tool carts. But it's a dinky garage, and I don't really see me rolling the whole cart around. 

Maybe my "system" of individual toolboxes that evolved over decades still makes sense. After all, the cart won't fit under a Quickjack-lifted car...

BillKeksz said:

We just moved into a brand new house, so I have a garage again, after shadtree-ing for twenty years. So I immediately started looking for tool carts. But it's a dinky garage, and I don't really see me rolling the whole cart around. 

Maybe my "system" of individual toolboxes that evolved over decades still makes sense. After all, the cart won't fit under a Quickjack-lifted car...

 

 

While it won't fit under the car, I have one of these Ikea Raskog carts, intended as a project cart, but like all flat surfaces in my garage, it has gotten loaded down with other stuff.  Used properly, it would be a convenient place to keep all the tools/parts related to an ongoing project, and it is small enough to move around a crowded garage.  I also have a couple of bins that attach to it.  If I can get it cleaned off, I think I am going to build a removable plywood top for it, with trim around all the edges to keep parts from falling off when I roll it around.

Thank you to everyone who's shared pictures and ideas in this thread.  I am planning a new big box in my new shop, and I'm determined not to start off with the same disorganized crap that's in my current box.  Those Hansen (or knock off) trays look like the ticket to me and I've saved 'em on Amazon.

For anyone looking for some ideas. So I use the Hansen trays like most but for my Wobble sockets and hex key sockets I use the Tekton / Ernst trays.