Toolbox tricks, what's yours?

[John Orchard]

Because sometimes the Missus helps me in the garage, plus my eyecrometer is starting to fail, I decided to colour match my spanners, I wrap a band of coloured electrical tape around the spanners..... 12mm = red, 13mm = blue, 14mm = yellow and 17mm = black, when I go to the drawer of the toolbox, in an instant I can spot what I need in the sea of spanners. To avoid any confusion in the future, please adhere to the above colours ;-) ha ha.

Also, my favourite tool in the workshop is masking tape, I wrap all my socket extensions with it, they are slippery little buggers with oily hands.

[TT5 Matt]

ive been known to tape bolt heads into sockets so they dont fall out when working where you cant see whats going on like on quad bike starter bolts.i also tape the socket onto the extension so i dont loose the socket.with screwdrivers i put all the handles of the flats to one side and star the other side with all the ends facing the middle of the drawer then easy to get the one i want. a block of 4x2 with long nails on it for multible same size sockets on each nail from 8mm to 24mm is handy on the bench.

[Dungar Pilot]

Hi Everyone,

Interesting topic John, working from home like I do makes you aware of wasting time looking for things and I do suffer from CDO! It is like next level OCD with the difference being it has to be in alphabetical order.

A drawer full of spanners is a nightmare to me! My combination spanners all hang on hooks in numerical order off course! There is a drawer of open end spanners with enough space to lay them out in numerical order! Are you seeing a pattern yet?

When it comes to screwdrivers, I am on exactly the same page as Matt....

....with screwdrivers i put all the handles of the flats to one side and star the other side with all the ends facing the middle of the drawer then easy to get the one i want. a block of 4x2 with long nails on it for multible same size sockets on each nail from 8mm to 24mm is handy on the bench.

My sockets are in groups of styles like long series together and so on, all in numerical order and all on socket rails screwed in place.

When it come to where I store things, probability comes into play with the most commonly used tools being close and less used tools a little further away.
Anyway there is a snapshot view into my psychosis.......

[John Orchard]

Yeh I like to be organized in the shed BUT, lugging my toolboxes to events sees a drawer for screwdrivers, one for spanners, another for things that pivot (vice grips, pliers, scissors) and allen keys etc

[Hoony]

Because sometimes the Missus helps me in the garage, plus my eyecrometer is starting to fail, I decided to colour match my spanners, I wrap a band of coloured electrical tape around the spanners..... 12mm = red, 13mm = blue, 14mm = yellow and 17mm = black, when I go to the drawer of the toolbox, in an instant I can spot what I need in the sea of spanners. To avoid any confusion in the future, please adhere to the above colours ;-) ha ha.

Also, my favourite tool in the workshop is masking tape, I wrap all my socket extensions with it, they are slippery little buggers with oily hands.

if i was Jodie i would be changing all the colors every 2nd week

[Momus]

Lots, but a good magnet on a 3' stick for pick ups from the floor.

[skypig]

If the draws in the toolbox are big enough - those spanner holders.
Keeps them in order - easy to find (And satisfies my OCD)
Can see if one is missing at a glance.
The sockets are in a draw, in the plastic holder they came with - the 10mm is marked.
I have a few T handles for common sizes - the 8mm has a green handle, the 10mm black.

[Dungar Pilot]

Hi Everyone,

Yeh I like to be organized in the shed BUT, lugging my toolboxes to events sees a drawer for screwdrivers, one for spanners, another for things that pivot (vice grips, pliers, scissors) and allen keys etc

John, do you have separate tools to take to events?
That is what I have and I only use this toolbox at events or rides away from home except to access my filter funnel. Now I have the filter to make another funnel:

[Hoony]

when i was heavily competing and riding i had separate tool box's for each event, one for MX and Dirt track (same bike) another for speedway with specific tools and spares, another for trial riding. some common tools went into each before the ride and at end of ride or event they went back onto my fully labeled shadow board. plastic containers held all the special tools for engine rebuilds etc and i had all my spares (wheel bearings, seals, gaskets) etc in labelled draws for each bike at the time.

[John Orchard]

when i was heavily competing and riding i had separate tool box's for each event, one for MX and Dirt track (same bike) another for speedway with specific tools and spares, another for trial riding. some common tools went into each before the ride and at end of ride or event they went back onto my fully labeled shadow board. plastic containers held all the special tools for engine rebuilds etc and i had all my spares (wheel bearings, seals, gaskets) etc in labelled draws for each bike at the time.

Yeh I had a tub for mx parts and another for roadrace, and a third tub for tools that are used for both, plus a toolbox for smaller spanners, sockets & screwdrivers.

[sleepy]

Not quite on theme but one of place I worked at years ago had this young guy start and he was ever so proud of his massive tool box on wheels with every tool known to man in it. It to him was a status symbol to have the biggest tool box but the only problem was when it was time to work at home on the weekend he needed a forklift to load it into his ute so he could do a five minute job at home.
I find myself very conscious these days of only taking the minimum tools with me to keep the weight down but normally find I have forgotten something when I go to my second shed some 80m away to work on something, but the walking back and forth is good exercise apparently.

I find the best thing for tools in my shed is to have multiples of everything so that when I misplace my favorite ring-openender I have another or 2 to keep on with and always seem to find the lost one is some obscure place where I put it down looking for something else, I think it's called getting old.     

[skypig]

My toolbox is pretty heavy. It’s for general stuff, pushbikes (special tools) and motorbikes.

I’d feel naked with out it at the races. But in reality only the common tools are every used.

To get it out of my van, I have to take a few draws out to reduce the risk to my back when lifting it - I have a “roller cab” (more draws) that I can put it on and then roll it around my workshop. Good in theory, but a PITA. I generally leave it in the van, parked in the work shop, and work out of that.