I’ve never really liked the different ways I’ve seen to store sockets in a drawer. If you lie them flat so you can see the markings, you lose valuable drawer space, if you store them vertically to save space you can’t see the markings and you may need a deeper drawer depending on the length of your sockets.
I wanted to stay away from separate labels, because they take up extra space and as soon as you get everything labeled, you pick up that odd x/32nds socket for a project and have no place to put it.
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I also wanted to be able to easily transfer sockets from tool chest to tool chest. I’ve reviewed both the Milwaukee 30″ combo and the Craftsman Pro 41″ Smart Lock Combo this last year, and I’ll probably be reviewing more. My first though was to go back to socket rails, but I’ve never been a fan of them, especially the cheap metal ones.
While searching for different socket storage ideas, I found this project on YouTube:
I liked the way the wooden backers held the sockets upright and made the rails much stiffer, but it’s hard to read the sockets when they are standing vertically. So I thought that a carrier that held the sockets at a 45° angle would give good readability while only taking up a little more space.
Building the Socket Holders
To start, I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on something that wasn’t going to work, so I picked up a bunch of these socket rail sets at Harbor Freight for really cheap. Then I designed my carriers around them.
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I made backers for the rails by taking a 2″ wide strip of 1/2″ Baltic birch plywood and cutting off the edges at a 45° angle on the table saw.
Next I routed a 1″ wide groove into the topside to recess the socket rail so the sockets would rest on the wooden carrier. This wasn’t as straight forward as I had hoped because the thickness of the rails varied from rail to rail and even on the same rail. So I opted for a shallower groove.
Finally, I drilled holes through the bottom to secure the socket rails and countersunk the holes to hide the screws.
When I started putting sockets on the holder, I found that the whole thing balanced pretty well on the 45° edge, but when I would put them inside a drawer, they would tip over when I opened or closed it.
To combat the socket holders from tipping over, I added some rare-earth magnets. This would hopefully keep them upright and as a bonus it should keep them from walking all over the drawer.
Using a 1/2″ Forstner bit, I counter-bored some holes for 1/2″ ring magnets. I decided that I didn’t want the magnets scratching up the paint on the drawers so bored the holes slightly deeper than the thickness of the magnets.
This made the socket holders much more stable, to the point where I rarely had a problem with them falling over in the soft close drawers of the Milwaukee 30″ combo. When I transferred them to the Craftsman Pro 41″ combo, the lack of the soft close feature meant that I’d sometimes open the drawer and find the sockets had tipped over.
Here’s a quick walk though of my 45° socket holders:
Analysis
There still are some problems with my system. I mentioned above that they can fall over (or even walk around a bit) when the drawer is jerked open or slammed shut.
There are a few ways that I could fix this. I could use thicker wood. A 3/4″ thick board would give me a 1″ hypotenuse — a little wider base for the socket rails to rest on. Or I could also either use stronger magnets, more magnets, or larger magnets. The ones I bought were N42. They make stronger ones, but they are a little harder to find and get more expensive. Or with a thicker base, I could use 3/4″ diameter magnets.
I suppose I could always remove the mat from the drawer, or at the least the section where the sockets live, but I wanted this system to work in any tool chest without modifying the drawer.
Another problem is that the sockets aren’t as readable as I had hoped. On many of the sockets, the etched number doesn’t line up with one of the four “sides” of the socket as determined by the square drive hole. It’s just sloppy that they are positioned so that then are obscured when they are on a socket strip. I can’t really do much about the socket markings with this system though, besides buying all new sockets.
My last issue isn’t with my system, it’s with the socket rails. I think I might have went overly cheap with the socket rails, as I’ve busted about 4 of the socket clips just by snapping sockets on and off. The spring steel is so thin and brittle it can just shatter. Next time I’ll definitely use better rails.
What would you have done differently?
Ken B
Nice idea, Ben. You might use socket labels to help with identification.
Ryan
I work in maintenance and need my stuff to be transported and strips just weren’t working. So I used clear Plano boxes and kaizen foam. To make custom socket carriers and they all stack in one drawer of my toolbox.
John S
I was never a fan of the metal clip ones that you used here. Instead I got a bunch of sets of these Ernst Manufacturing Socket Organizers (blue for metric red for sae):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0060AD920/
I liked these bc I could add more socket clips:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0060BCCS6/
or take them out as I gained or lost sockets. Held up pretty well and very pleased.
They come bundled with labels already that you can attach to the clips if you wanted to see them from above and they are compatible with Ernst trays to clip them into or you can buy them bundled together:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SLXWH18/
Plus they all have keyholes to hang them when you remove a set or want them on a pegboard.
Conor
If you give up moving from toolbox to toolbox, you could do something similar by drilling angled holes in a hardwood or metal plate. Then you could put dowels/studs/grub screws into the angled holes to mount the sockets. That way any individual rail can’t tip over in the toolbox.
Robert
I’m a big fan of the Hansen holders. Had those cheap metal clip type before and they are a pain in the arse to get the sockets off one handed. Even the video here shows that. After a while they even quit holding the sockets in place.
The Hansen holders are long and labeled for size. The sockets just slip down on them, Easy on easy off.
fred
I guess already labeled holders work for most socket collections – unless you have a few duplicates or oddball sizes (e.g. 17/32, 19/32, 25/32) you want to include in the line .
Otherwise – you might try to printout a label strip and glue it in place with some contact cement.
RC WARD
What? Harbor Freight makes something cheap? Wow, when did that happen?
James Bingham
Seems very similar to the approach taken by Montezuma Tool Boxes.
Yadda
Using the metal holders with an inexpensive plastic spice rack would accomplish the same thing.
Something like this:
http://www.organizeit.com/expand-a-drawer-spice-organizer.asp
SteveO
+1 to the Hansen holders. I, too, had the metal clips and hated them – too much friction. The Hansen’s have a pretty big footprint and it might be difficult to fit metric and SAE trays in your tool chest, but they work fine in mine.
AKT
Really cool, I was just try to figure out a way to reorganize my sockets. I’ll checkout freight today. I’ll take making, even in part, my own stuff rather than paying for a set of over priced piece of plastic that take 32 cents to make (including labor). Or I guess I could try just looking at my tools rather than use them.
fred
Interesting idea.
Most of mine are stored in the drawer of a rolling cabinet on the same sort of rails you picture. My rails are pop-riveted to a sheet of aluminum that covers the base of the drawer. I have some full rails running parallel to the drawer front – and others cut off and running perpendicular. There are a few short rails stuck in here and there to use up the extra interstitial space that results from large and small sockets. This arrangement suits me – but is by no means as clever as your idea – and even though my muscle-memory has been practiced over the years – I still often grab the wrong size socket.
One thing – I have noticed is that these rails have gotten way cheaper – both in price and the quality of the clips and thickness of the metal. The 1970 vintage Craftsman rails that make up most of what I used – are made of appreciably heavier gauge metal.
I also have some magnetic base rails from Lowes – that I like – even though they are a lot pricier.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-Aluminum-Magnetic-Socket-Rail/3381276
BonPacific
Any reason to use the Lowes mag base with the clips but not just go straight to a magnetic rail? The HF one is about $5 and plenty strong.
fred
The HF ones (#61199, #60433 and #62178) all seem like they might work for holding sockets in place – and they look to have mounting holes.
The Lowes-Kobalt comes in 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 sizes. Its magnetic base is rather soft and non-marring so it’s handy for its ability to be magnetically placed on a fender or under the hood. Maybe the HF ones would work OK that way too if its magnetic top and bottom. As a storage solution its certainly much cheaper ($4 with one of those ubiquitous 20% off coupons)
BonPacific
The HF magnet is just wrapped in steel channel. It’s not sharp at all, but nothing soft either. The back of the magnet is strong enough to hold the bar to a steel door even with stuff attached.
Benjamen
That’s an interesting idea. Maybe for holding the sockets in place, but I bet they’d hold a socket rail full of sockets in place too. I need to do some experimenting.
Those mag rails are one thing that really is a deal at HF. I’ve tried a bunch of similar cheap ones and they are all garbage in comparison to the HF ones. I’m already using 5 of them in my shop. I might need to make a trip and grab some more.
Steve
Lowes used to sell a mag panel with 3 rows of pretty strong magnets. I have two, one for 1/4″ and 3/8″ to include the ratchet handle. The whole kit gets brought out and I have everything I need. I personally don’t look at markings, just eyeball it and I usually get the right size. They have since replaced these with a crappy model that won’t hold the sockets.
Steve
If I were to diy one I’d go buy rectangular neodymium magnets and glue them down into a few rows of recessed channels
Nathan
I’ll be watching this thread as I’m in the middle of this too. SInce the move to the new housing unit I’ve decided I have significant deficiencies with my socket storage plan.
Anton
Neat set up. Why not just start with a 2×2 cut diagnally? it would give you a base less likely to tip but you couldn’t lay them upright anymore.
Also wouldn’t it make sense to put the rail not in the center of the board but towards the higher side. As it is set up now don’t the top of the sockets overlap the next row slightly? offset to the top side would avoid that but make it taller. Alternatively just cutting a 45 slot in flat stock can accomplish similar geometry.
I’m curious if anyone mixes their sae and metric sockets together from smallest to largest. As in 3/8″, 10mm, 11mm, 7/16″, 12mm, 1/2″ … etc. I have trouble eyeballing sizes and made my “to go” socket rail mixed like this and it seems to be much faster.
Benjamen
I don’t like mixing my sockets because I usually know whether what I’m working on is Metric or SAE — if I want to grab a set I’d have to carry twice as much.
I know the pictures and video don’t give the greatest view. A drawer of shiny things is really surprisingly hard to capture. As I have them in my drawer, they aren’t overlapping, the angle just makes it look that way.
After building the holders, I did think about changing the position of the rails, moving them up higher would make clearance an issue in some of the drawers I’ve wanted to put them it. The drawer I was using in the Milwaukee Chest was just barely tall enough, where as the full length drawer in the Craftsman chest was plenty deep.
mattd
why not just drill 45 degree holes in a piece of wood and glue dowels into the holes? they would probably be more stable, plus the sockets will be easier to get in/out.
Bruce
Why not skip the little socket holders and embed magnets in the wood interior. You could easily align your markings for visibility.
Mr. Gerbik
That seems like an awful lot of work for socket storage.
Brian
With the wood socket rails you should be able to label the sockets on the base and still see it. It would be small but should still be readable.
Tojen1981
I arrange my sockets in the following manner in the top drawer of a Mac tech 1000 box using standard metal rails:
I set the rails front to back (perpendicular to the front edge of the drawer)starting with my largest drive (1/2″) on the outside edge of the drawer, leaving a small gap at the bottom of the rail so it leans outward on the edge of the drawer. Deep, mid-length,shallow,universal, and Allen sockets last, working my way down each drive size in that order(1/4″ being on the inside). Metric on the left, SAE on the right. Very easy and efficient for me. Also easy to find sockets without having to look directly at them.
dave
Any chance of a picture of this arrangement?
Shane
Westling Machine makes billet aluminum socket holders (in the USA) that are an excellent solution. They aren’t even expensive compared to the plastic ones. I’m super happy with mine.
Stuart
Yes, we reviewed them here: https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/westling-socket-organizer-review/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E