67cudaResto89
Well-Known Member
heres some more..
How to organize a tool box
- Thread starter Old Tired Rebel
- Start date
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WOW that is organized.Thanks
67cudaResto89
Well-Known Member
socket organizers help alot. as do wrench organizers. they take up some space more so than the rails would. but everything is very clearly labeled so when u want a specific socket its right there no guess work involved
jamesdaytona
Well-Known Member
Hahahaha ! I'm not the only OCD patient out there !
67cudaResto89
Well-Known Member
No you are not! Lol been doin this five years and most of my tools still look brand new. Clean them every night after work wash my box the same routine everynight lol. Those tools arent cheap and one day when i have a son/daughter they will go to them so i want them to still look fresh lol
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
i organise my home tool box with all like tools in the same drawers wrenches together, screwdrivers together etc,
however at work, we are required to use a thick foam pad thats red on one side, and yellow on the other, and a router to "shadow" every tool location, you router halfway into the pad in the shape of the "shadow of your tools you are storing. the yellow on top, red on the bottom, and if a tool is removed from your tool box it shows a red outline and indentation where the tool is supposed to be, looks really clean and professional.
the reason for all this is i work as an aircraft mechanic, and after each job and before you start a new job it is company policy to put all your tools away and inventory your tool box. this way if you have a tool thats MIA you go find it immediately. if you wait a few days because you didnt inventory your box the aircraft may fly out with your tool aboard, the possibility of one of your tools rolling around and jamming up a flight control, or shorting out wiring can happen with disasterous results.
not to mention if it happens and the aircraft doesnt crash, your concience will still be getting to you. at which time you end up initiating a report with the NTSB and FAA about the lost tool, and the company will usually recieve a fine for every day and every leg that aircraft flew in an "unsafe " condition. this usually doesnt end well at all.
surgeons have to keep an accurate count of everything the use in surgery and count it all before they sew people up just to be sure they dont leave anything behind, tho sometimes it happens even tho its not often. the aircraft i work on are my patients, i cant leave my tools behind either.
but for home use its a bit messier and not so organized. LOL however there lots of clever organization things out there. I have all my home sockets on socket rails, i have wrench racks, plus if you have the space you can "shadow" your home tool box. Unfortunately my home tool cabinet doesnt have enough room for me to do this. So i put like tools in the same drawer. I have one drawer with all sorts of plyers adjustable wrenches, channellocks, visegrips etc, piled in there, ditto phillips screw drivers, and straight blade screw drivers, i had wrench racks.but when i needed the room, i made 2 small cardboard caddys and piled my sae in one, and metric in another.
I am looking at getting the china freight black 3 drawer mechanics cart. The open bottom will fit my welder and chopsaw, and the 3 drawers i will put all my air tools, welding supplies, and auto body tools. This is a nice box . Heavy gage steel, roller bearing drawer slides, holds up to 500 pounds. This will free up some room in my main tool cabinet, and it will fit under my workbench to store it too.
however at work, we are required to use a thick foam pad thats red on one side, and yellow on the other, and a router to "shadow" every tool location, you router halfway into the pad in the shape of the "shadow of your tools you are storing. the yellow on top, red on the bottom, and if a tool is removed from your tool box it shows a red outline and indentation where the tool is supposed to be, looks really clean and professional.
the reason for all this is i work as an aircraft mechanic, and after each job and before you start a new job it is company policy to put all your tools away and inventory your tool box. this way if you have a tool thats MIA you go find it immediately. if you wait a few days because you didnt inventory your box the aircraft may fly out with your tool aboard, the possibility of one of your tools rolling around and jamming up a flight control, or shorting out wiring can happen with disasterous results.
not to mention if it happens and the aircraft doesnt crash, your concience will still be getting to you. at which time you end up initiating a report with the NTSB and FAA about the lost tool, and the company will usually recieve a fine for every day and every leg that aircraft flew in an "unsafe " condition. this usually doesnt end well at all.
surgeons have to keep an accurate count of everything the use in surgery and count it all before they sew people up just to be sure they dont leave anything behind, tho sometimes it happens even tho its not often. the aircraft i work on are my patients, i cant leave my tools behind either.
but for home use its a bit messier and not so organized. LOL however there lots of clever organization things out there. I have all my home sockets on socket rails, i have wrench racks, plus if you have the space you can "shadow" your home tool box. Unfortunately my home tool cabinet doesnt have enough room for me to do this. So i put like tools in the same drawer. I have one drawer with all sorts of plyers adjustable wrenches, channellocks, visegrips etc, piled in there, ditto phillips screw drivers, and straight blade screw drivers, i had wrench racks.but when i needed the room, i made 2 small cardboard caddys and piled my sae in one, and metric in another.
I am looking at getting the china freight black 3 drawer mechanics cart. The open bottom will fit my welder and chopsaw, and the 3 drawers i will put all my air tools, welding supplies, and auto body tools. This is a nice box . Heavy gage steel, roller bearing drawer slides, holds up to 500 pounds. This will free up some room in my main tool cabinet, and it will fit under my workbench to store it too.
Keith Mopar
Mopar Nut
moparmat do you have any pics of that foam pad..
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Send me a PM with your email.address, i will take pix w my smart phone and send em to you. I dunno where my company got this stuff but we have sheets of it 3/4" thick with both colors imbedded in it. Id post pix of it here but dont know.how to do this with my phone.
Keith Mopar
Mopar Nut
Here are some pics of the foam pad that Mopar Matt was talking abouit. It does up more room as the tolls are spread out a bit, but you won't be loosing tolls with stuff.
These pics are from Matt.
These pics are from Matt.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Thanks keith.
If y'all notice in one pic of plyers drawer there is a tool missing, its pretty easy to see which one. Yes it takes up some room, but you wont miss a tool if your stuff is shadowed. In my line of work a tool left in an aircraft could kill a shitload of people. I also use wrench racks as shown in the pic, preformed screwdriver holders, magnetic socket racks etc.
I was just in the parts room at my company this morning and grabbed a copy of the bill of lading on a stack of that foam pad.
Its called 1/4" red over 1/4" yellow Xlink and is
60"x 108" square sized
I have no idea what they payed for this stuff
The company is
Adams foam rubber company
4737 So. Christina ave
Chicago illinois 60632
Phone (773)523-5252
Fax (773)523-0430
No email addy but you can prob find in on the net.
Hope this helps
Matt
If y'all notice in one pic of plyers drawer there is a tool missing, its pretty easy to see which one. Yes it takes up some room, but you wont miss a tool if your stuff is shadowed. In my line of work a tool left in an aircraft could kill a shitload of people. I also use wrench racks as shown in the pic, preformed screwdriver holders, magnetic socket racks etc.
I was just in the parts room at my company this morning and grabbed a copy of the bill of lading on a stack of that foam pad.
Its called 1/4" red over 1/4" yellow Xlink and is
60"x 108" square sized
I have no idea what they payed for this stuff
The company is
Adams foam rubber company
4737 So. Christina ave
Chicago illinois 60632
Phone (773)523-5252
Fax (773)523-0430
No email addy but you can prob find in on the net.
Hope this helps
Matt
blue missile
Well-Known Member
Mat,
thanks for the info, I assume you cut the mat with a knife. I did my wood working tool box with high density urethane foam and cut it with a router.
first pick is the top layer top drawer, second pic is bottom layer top drawer.
Yours is easier and cleanable, I like it.
I read a comment about a plier drawer, if you dont have the room to lay your tools down and use Mats mat, I used plastic dry wall corner bead stapled to the bottom of the drawer. Im sure you could use a bonding agent in a metal tool box.
Andrew
thanks for the info, I assume you cut the mat with a knife. I did my wood working tool box with high density urethane foam and cut it with a router.
first pick is the top layer top drawer, second pic is bottom layer top drawer.
Yours is easier and cleanable, I like it.
I read a comment about a plier drawer, if you dont have the room to lay your tools down and use Mats mat, I used plastic dry wall corner bead stapled to the bottom of the drawer. Im sure you could use a bonding agent in a metal tool box.
Andrew
younggun2.0
Well-Known Member
now where did i leave that 9/16 box end wrench?
now where did i leave that 9/16 box end wrench?
OMG!!! I would have a heart attack if my tools were like that. I'll have to take a picture of my toolbox. I'm a little bit of a neat freak with my tools.
magnumdart
There is a bad moon on the rise.
I have a large gang box I can't even move. I don't dare look in it.
65_valiant
Well-Known Member
1st drawer, top box- 1/4" drive2nd drawer, top box- 3/8" drive3rd drawer, top box- wrenches4th drawer, top box- random crap that i have in some craftsman tray organizer. HATE it.5th drawer, top box- pliers and pry bars1st drawer, middle box- electrical, solder, solder gun, electrical tape, multi meter etc.2nd drawer, middle box- hex and torx wrenches3rd drawer, middle box- 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" sander, nibbler, die grinder air tools.1st drawer, bottom box- 1/2" drive2nd drawer, bottom box- zipties, yard and garden maintenance tools3rd and 4th drawer, bottom box- owners manuals for pretty much every thing that I own in the garage that came with an owners manual.5th drawer, bottom box- duplicate tools, not organized, and an EYE SORE!!!
younggun2.0
Well-Known Member
thats not really my tools. that was a pic off of google. I just thought it would ruffle a few feathers and be good for a laugh.
Oklacarcollecto
Life is an experiment
Works for me and it would fit my rollback.
younggun2.0
Well-Known Member
holly ****!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that thing prob cost more than my first house. lol.
/6 Matt
30 Degrees Crooked
My best friend is the same way. I keep my stuff organized but my problem is that 20% of the time I spend working on cars is time spent searching for the tool I had in mu hand 30 seconds ago lol!
Oklacarcollecto
Life is an experiment
I would hate to guess what that baby would cost.
magnumdart
There is a bad moon on the rise.
Far less than the cost to fill it.
omahamoparguy
Well-Known Member
- Joined
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only one tip here, don't overfill the drawer. I had a bad habit of collecting too many tools like stuff I found at the junkyard etc. Next thing you know my wrench drawer is so full that I cant find anything unless I hunt for 1/2 hour. Only put a set quantity of tools in one drawer. If you find some junk tools, throw them in a 5 gal bucket etc for extras.
Hemiorangeswinger
Dodge Material
Here's how I like to organize tools. I spent 20+ hours masking this, but I won't lose any wrenches! I'm making another one for vise grips/pliers, screwdrivers, sockets and ratchets and all my cordless tools. I'll keep my toolbox for specialty tools.
I keep it simple. I have 3 toolboxes. I throw tools in them.
I have to take a little dispute with this suggestion (sorry Doug lol). Imagine that someone breaks into your shop or garage ... your drawer labels will provide them with a virtual road map to The Good Stuff. If you're inclined to label the drawers, leave them on there until you're familiar with your new layout and then get rid of 'em.
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