Has anyone used one of these? Good, bad, indifferent?
I saw them a few days ago. The default Amazon reviews are good, but there are lots of single star ones, and if you read those then it's not so good. Basically it sounds like it really only fits certain wrench brands, and even then it's a bit sloppy.
I haven't actually used one though.
Since I have a mix of various brands (only the finest in Chinese manufacturing for me!) I made my own using some scrap wood and a miter saw.
I just leaned a wrench up in the drawer to get the approximate angle and then marked the wood with the spacing for the wrenches and then test fit them as some were different thicknesses.
I'll see if I can take a pic later.
I'm a big fan of wrench rolls. Hang them on the wall for easy access, then pull 'em off and roll them up to take to the track.
I'm trying to organize about forty wrenches in a 22"X10.75"X3.5" drawer.
Tried them all, the Ernst wrench racks are best for drawers:
I went with Ernst first but couldn't live with them.
Snap-on KRA15A is the most versatile, Easiest to use and probably the least expensive thing Snap-on Sells.
Nice and long. Cut 'em to length and stick 'em to your drawer liner.
My Metric drawer complete with Yoga mat liner full of KRA15A
I could move them around and crowd more in there but I think I have all the metric wrenches I need.... for now
One of my guys misplaced one of my DOE wrenches and it is killing me. I doubt I have ever used it but that empty slot reminds me something is missing.
The Ernst racks look like an awesome solution for a 16" deep drawer but with only 10.75" to work with I don't see how I can make them work. Yes, I can cut them to length, but then they won't hold the full range of sizes.
Hmm... I thought Ernst made the Snap-On KRA rails but it appears they are different.
I mentioned Ernst because not everyone buys off the truck.
I have the Snap-On ones in all my boxes, they're the best and cheap enough.
I use them for screwdriver organisation too, just use one strip for the shanks and let the handles lay in the drawer.
DWNSHFT, you HAVE to cut them to size no matter what, they're 24-ish inches long out of the box, they're meant to be cut to size.
I just coiled some heavy wire to make my own. Take up less space than any store bought type.
as I do not have any fancy tool boxes, I use carabineers. All my large metric are on one, small metric on another, Gear Wrenches on a third. All the Bineers are colour coded and the wrenches kept in order. As a plus, if I a working a bolt I am not sure what size it is, I can use the open ends of the wrenches till I find it
I throw mine in a bucket.
SVreX wrote: I throw mine in a bucket.
mad_machine wrote: as I do not have any fancy tool boxes, I use carabineers. All my large metric are on one, small metric on another, Gear Wrenches on a third. All the Bineers are colour coded and the wrenches kept in order. As a plus, if I a working a bolt I am not sure what size it is, I can use the open ends of the wrenches till I find it
I like this.. I end up w/ most of my stuff in a plastic tool box I bring to events, and select tools I keep in a small shoulder bag I bring to grid, which has other quick fix/adjustment materials in it. Works fairly well other than finding a certain size quickly. The carabiners might be the perfect answer for that.
I use carabiners or the metal spring pins with a clip on them for my travel tool box, the stay at home box gets the racks.
In reply to Jumper K. Balls:
well i didnt feel like a slob with my tools until i seen this.
Jumper K. Balls wrote:SVreX wrote: I throw mine in a bucket.
That GIF is so appropriate, but your box is the epitome of OCD... 
secretariata wrote: That GIF is so appropriate, but your box is the epitome of OCD...
No, it's simply "correct". 
Trans_Maro wrote:secretariata wrote: That GIF is so appropriate, but your box is the epitome of OCD...No, it's simply "correct".
I don't doubt that if you make your living using those tools it is "correct", but for the rest of us that is OCD to the highest order...
secretariata wrote:Trans_Maro wrote:I don't doubt that if you make your living using those tools it is "correct", but for the rest of us that is OCD to the highest order...secretariata wrote: That GIF is so appropriate, but your box is the epitome of OCD...No, it's simply "correct".
I used to be a "pile of wrenches in a drawer" guy. This is so much faster and better. Like an hour a week of saved time kinda faster. I got a lot of flack from a certain co-worker when I started organizing in industrial maintenance. When we needed to gather tools for a job I would be prepped and ready 10 minutes before him. I could drink a cup of coffee while he shuffled through his drawers.
I also haven't lost a wrench or socket in over 6 years. Not a single 10mm socket unaccounted for. I actually went looking for a replacement for the missing double open end from my set this morning. They don't make it, it doesn't exist. Someone just put one away incorrectly. You notice that kinda thing and it makes you put everything back.
I'll never go back. Plus I feel an odd sense of pride when I open the drawers and am greeted with that garish display of mechanical magnificence.
^what he said.
I see an empty spot in my socket tray or wrench rack and I go nuts.
It's a huge time saver to have an organised toolbox.
My drawers would all be shadowed if it weren't for the fact that I'm constantly adding and updating my tool selection.
In reply to Jumper K. Balls:
Like I said, if you make your living working with those tools, that is perfectly reasonable. I fully understand how that level of organization is necessary and how paying for top quality tools with fully supported warranties is the right thing to do.
For those of us that don't live by our tools, that seems like a vision of how we would like things to be, but we have different priorities and don't spent the same $ or put in the same level of organization for our "hobby"...
In reply to secretariata:
My box isn't as perfectly set up as some of the pictures here. I use a combination of tool rolls and clip in organizers for wrenches. The tool rolls are nice as you can take the whole set with you quite easily. The down side is that they are not easily accessible in the drawer. The drawer also has to be deep enough to accommodate the rolls. One is metric. One is English. The third is ratcheting metric.
If I am slogging to get a car back on the road so I can go to work, home, back on track etc; organization is just as important to me as it is to a professional who is working on someone else's stuff. In some cases, it may be more important. Wasting an hour searching for a tool might make the difference in finishing a repair at a reasonable hour and going to bed or slogging on past that point of diminishing returns.
Mine are tossed in the drawer. Metric to the left, Standard to the right.
My tool chest came with nice no-slip drawer liners, so I just lay my wrenches flat in order of size--Metric on one drawer and SAE on the other.
After lying there for a while, they've kid of imprinted the liner, so you can clearly see where everything goes.
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