Socket Organizer

Jan 3, 2005
11,745
70
On Kennith's private island
I have the Ernst socket holders. I hate those things. I have like three or four of them. If you want them Chris you can have them. I hate them.

I think I'm looking for a cleaner way to store the sockets in my box. Something that makes it easy to identify exactly what I'm looking for quickly. So something with a large size display, molded into the organizer and/or painted with a contrasting color. The Ernst organizers have every small size indicators. And when you have all these strips of sockets laying in your box it looks confusing. If I'm under the truck and I want my wife to hand me a T-20, I want her to easily identify that socket. I don't need the whole fucking set under the truck with me.

I don't want the sockets secured, either. I don't want to have to depress a button or un-snap the socket. I just want to grab it. And many times you may need two 10mm's at the same time. So I would like an organizer that would hold more than one socket at a time in the same location. I have 100's of sockets and I would like to store as many as possible in a single location. These sockets would have no reason to leave my garage. I have another set of tools in a bag if I ever need tools away from the house. So magnetic strips, built in lights, or MP3 player does not excite me here. Just something simple and functional.
 

chris snell

Administrator
Staff member
Aug 15, 2005
3,020
152
Sounds like you need a 3D printer and a CAD program. You could build exactly what you want, with the exact organization you're looking for.
 

stu454

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2004
5,407
61
Atlanta, GA
You don't have to lock the sockets onto the Ernst rail. You can just place them onto the clip and leave it at that. I lock the sockets onto the rail that's in the truck Pelican but leave the toolbox sockets unlocked.
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
I use the Hanson easy in out sizes are marked I have a set for 6 point and a set for 12

They come in different colors for SAE and metric

This is pretty much it I think.
They are simple and effective. They have the size written cleanly on them and there is a spot for both a deep and shallow socket in each size.
 

jymmiejamz

Well-known member
Dec 5, 2004
6,008
361
35
Los Angeles, Ca
I use the Hanson ones for most of my shallow and deep sockets. For most of the other stuff I just use those cheap metal ones. I think most of mine are Snap On. I have them screwed down into the drawer. HEre's a pic of my socket drawer from 2013, not much has changed other than adding a bunch of Allen sockets.

 
Jan 3, 2005
11,745
70
On Kennith's private island
This is kind of what I had in mind. The clips on this organizer are optional. I don't like that it only allows for one socket of each size, but I can live with that....

attachment.php

https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/124-socket-drawer-organizer/A-p8309643e

I also did not mind the Craftsman version. I went to Sears over the weekend and took a look, but their organizer will not fit my drawers. The Sears organizers are 16" deep and my Snap-On drawer is only 14.5". There was not way to trim the Craftsman organizer and it would not fit sideways, either.

spin_prod_947245912


I keep finding myself back on the Hansen website. These things are so cheap feeling, though. They're really a total piece of shit. I don't guess a socket organizer needs to be all that substantial, but this is some Harbor Fright type cheapness.

b66da0287338f61879dc6cfd15834ebb.jpg
 

chris snell

Administrator
Staff member
Aug 15, 2005
3,020
152
I don't like those big socket organizers. There's nothing wrong with the way they're built; I just don't like that they're dictating how they're organized for you. That's what I like about the Ernst rails--if I want to put a 1/4" drive u-joint next to my 1/4" drive 8mm, I can do that. I lay them out in the way that makes sense for me. I don't have a tool box yet but when I get one, I will probably put all of the commonly used sockets for a Defender on one rail so that I don't have to fish through 16mm when I'm looking for the 17mm. If you have only the ones you need in a row, you can quickly pick them out by sight and wouldn't even have to look at the marking.

The Ernst would solve this but you could do the same thing with a 3D printer. You could build one of those trays with your own organization, which would be really cool. In terms of CAD layouts, it would be really simple, too--a great first project.
 

jymmiejamz

Well-known member
Dec 5, 2004
6,008
361
35
Los Angeles, Ca
One annoying thing I should mention about the Hansen trays is that I got a replacement Snap On 13mm 1.4" drive deep socket and it does not fit properly on the rail. The hole in the center of the socket is too small.