@@michaelgrodecki4159 no totally need 1 and a 12mm drawer always use those the most can never find one wheni need it even though i got 6 10mm and 4 12mm lol
@@WildcatWarrior15 yo fr I got nothing against him but I’d bet my ass he only uses 5% of all those sockets. If he’s in a shop he owns that’s fine but if he’s at home then he doesn’t need that huge cabinet for all those sockets. Waste of time and money
I appreciate the amount of time, effort, and care you put in to your tools. Which if you pay as much as you do for tools then you should take care of them. Yes I know there's more expensive tools but you should take care of what you got regardless of price and always be proud of what you got. I would probably take the fine tip marker and write the socket size or tool type inside the cut out. Just to make things easier if you happen to have a bunch of tools out before you put any back. It happens sometimes. I usually don't put them back until the job is done. That's just me though. Love what you're doing. Keep it up👍
I appreciate it. And for me I treat all my tools as if they were tool truck price. I even have foam cut out for my $15 set of titan screwdrivers and picks I got from Costco. I used a label maker to print out sizes and it’s a fairly clean look. I’m the same as you, once I’m done with a project I clean off my tools and then put them away.
@@earnie219 your humor seems to be a bit high brow for this bunch ;) I've never regretted buying high quality tools. They're working perfectly for me 20-years later and they just fit tighter, cause less problems. The cheapos end up in the bin.
I'm a long haul professional truck driver. My tools are my life on the road. I can't always rely solely on mobile mechanics. So when it comes to fixing on the go, having all you tools organized and available makes it that much faster and easier. Thanks for the recommendation. Looking forward to my order.
Eric 0 seconds ago I’m a retired USAF aircraft mechanic…although it uses much more tool box space “foaming” a box will increase productivity and largely eliminate lost tools. Camping foam mattresses (the cheap ones) from Walmart cutout for your tools on top of Harbor Freight tool box draw liners work well and are much more economical.
I’ve had a product like this installed in my toolbox since the early 90s because I used to travel all over the United States and it always kept my tools organized
Back in the 90s when I was an apprentice I had my box set up with foam ( it was all the rage for hobby / shade tree guys ) I quickly learned what a waste of time and effort it was . Not only is the foam not solvent , oil , gas rated ( eats foam over time ) As a professional you are constantly upgrading your tools and storage capacity . There is always the next best tool to make your job easier and more efficient , then there are always the next tool required for specific make/ model for service . This stuff is ok for a hobby guy who isn't constantly having to upgrade in both tools and storage. Foam is useful for a dedicated diagnostic cart to keep all your leads and transducers organized and to to keep scanners , scopes , etc to protect from shock while moving around the shop. But otherwise in my experience pretty useless .
Exactly!!! In addition, even for the backyard mechanics, there are plenty of cases where you need a special socket or offset box wrench and to buy the entire set just so you'd have it complete for display is nonsense!!! This not only adds to the costs for tools but also takes up vast amounts space where you might have to buy two roll away tool chests!!! Completely impractical!!!
You blame the failure of the foam to solvents, oils, etc and claim it’s useless. That was your own ignorance. You need closed cell foam, which has been a standard in aviation for decades by all professionals. And using foam doesn’t mean you aren’t able to continue using socket rails or other organizers in conjunction with the closed cell foam. Besides that, you should be planning drawer layout and expandability before you start and every time you add a new tool.
@@phtevenmolz5030 Get over yourself F tar- d. A&P guys in comparison require about an 1/8th of the tools/ tool storage compared to an Auto Technician. Personally I've never met a A&P that when working on anything other than an aircraft , that could fix a ham sandwich . Now go play with your harbor freight box and craftsman tools in the corner . ps . . the 90s was four decades ago ...when your magic foam wasn't exactly available and affordable . d head . Side note the chemicals frequently used back then are all outlawed today , and commonly used in aircraft was TCE , it will eat that precious foam too. Wanna ask how I know ?
I know you mentioned using the black marker because it hides better. You can also take alcohol wipes when you're done and wipe the excess marker off of your foam to really get things cleaned up nicely.
Nice setup! I don't need to lock mine up since I only do personal, friends, and family. I still own as many tools as a mechanic because I'm a nerd like that. I have setup a whole wall with peg board and it's simply amazing. Looks like a store and it's super easy for me or any helper to find everything without fumbling through drawers. I mean socket rails wrenches you name it. Makes it so much faster to find and put up
I prefer using the longest/largest drawer for all of my sockets (chrome and impact 1/4, 3/8, 1/2) because I work in automotive, but this was a great tutorial, definitely keeping it in mind!
That was my original plan too, but I wasn’t very confident my socket drawer would be sturdy enough to hold everything I had. It’s definitely a design flaw on my toolbox.
I hear you the sockets with a torch, then I place them in their place and Viola, indentation done perfectly. 🤗 Jk, That's slot of work my friend. I don't use my tools that often, I just have some nice sets and I try to keep them organized, it's my family that make a mess, now I just lock up the tool box, no more fighting with them 🤷🏻♂️
I’ve been a professional mechanic for decades now and I’ve never seen anyone do this. I’m all about organization and being able to find and see things that are missing but in my opinion it’s gonna get nasty after awhile unless you meticulously clean every tool before putting it back. I wipe down everything quick with brake clean at the end of the work day and my drawers are still dirty. And every time you reach your greasy fingers into a drawer you’ll be introducing dirt and grime that way. I think this organization method looks great but it’s just not practical for automotive work.
I work in aircraft maintenance, and its insanely messy work, some really harmful fluids and fuels. We use similar foam and cutouts (for tool accountability purposes), and the foam with hard daily use, normally lasts at least a few years.
ive been seeing a lot of these videos. another guy has an immaculate snap-on setup that's just insane all looks brand new probably $100k in top line everything. rather than fix stuff with tools these guys buy tools to show them off. i had a friend that was a smog-technician he spent about $50k on everything he got the anniversary box back in 1997 the green one. he never worked on cars he was a smog tech at a local gas station. he went to a training school to learn smog and that's all he ever did in the automotive industry. he was a lame he's dead now too much coke and pills!!! I keep all my stuff in milwaukee packout boxes and a couple of trunks. i keep wrenches, ratchets and sockets in bags. i keep it all in an old mazda truck bed trailer conversion. i work on a farm its basically a service trailer for anything electrical or light mechanical. you can tell by looking at this kids hands he's never been near an engine in his life.
I’ve setup stuff like this at hospitals - it’s really overkill if you’re not sharing tools. When multiple people share workspace and tools, you need these visual indicators a lot more. If it’s your own box and only you use it, this is more about aesthetics than functionality.
@@jayhowie7178 yep I'm in a large precision engineering company as maintenance and some of the cutting fluids and lubricants are terrible. The foam has lasted several years now.
I joined the Coast Guard in 1980. My first Air Station had all their tool boxes organized like this with this layered foam 40 years ago. I have never been happy with any other tool boxes since.
Supper clean look. I don’t have near the time it would take to do this to all my box drawers. Be fantastic if someone sold precut sections for standard socket sets!
You're deduction to organization is admirable , I personally am the same at home but in the workplace it would have been a little impractical;( retired BMW/Audi). Snap On does have custom inserts for dowers but it comes with the cost. Very informative and well planned out,I for one really enjoyed it and I think you're going to have a successful carrier , if you don't already. Take Care and keep twisting them wrenchs!
Absolutely sweet organization! I agree with you, that cutting finger pulls for all the tools kinda messes up the whole look of the truly organized tools, but that's how I do it. Cool video. 👍😎
What do you do when you loose one and the replacement isn't available OR the design change OR you obtain additional tools OR basically change anything.....Then you cutting all new foam again, at for that drawer. Nice idea, like the work and the care involved, I could never get away with this level of detail.
I think Tekton is a good choice; I’ve been buying Tekton for several years now after Craftsman went down the tubes. My only comment about the foam inserts is that I prefer to keep tool sets together in an organizer so I can grab the entire set out as a unit, use, clean and put the whole set back away vs piece by piece. This way if I’m under a vehicle and misjudge a socket or wrench size, I have the whole range of right at my disposal. Over the years I’ve used many organizers from plastic to magnetic looking for that best way to grab & go so I’d be interested in seeing various types of organizers in action.
I agree I been a mechanic for along time like you sound you have. The foam shadowing takes up to much space. I’m an aircraft mechanic an you know year after year We buy more tools then you run out of space that’s why I don’t like the method even though it’s the best way to shadow tools and recognize immediately when your missing one.
I just want to give you a hand and tell you a way to do your sockets so you can read all the information on them, like your sizes and stuff and they will stand out and you’ll be able to look at your drawer and tell the size without trying to look at the size of the socket and squint your eyes and stuff. Anyways what I did is I took paint pens, I used red and I used blue, I took the paint pen and went all over the bottom of the socket filling in the size and stuff like that after it dried I took some really fine steel wool and went around the socket and cleaned off all the excess paint on top of the socket and left the paint that was left down in the numbers and stuff, it stood out like black on white you could read it easily and it worked out great for me. If you look you can see that a lot of places use red and blue on a lot of things, they use one color for metric and one color for standard. You can use any color you desire on your tools the other colors of which there’s many of them. You used red in black on your foam padding so you could use either red or black on your sockets or you could do red and blue if you wanted to but either way it will make it look better and it will stand out, just try one socket like that and see if you like it. Oh! I also used the paint pens on my wrench’s on their size markings and the brand marking’s in the wrenches centers. I ordered my paint pens right off of Amazon and they worked out great, thanks very much for your video it was fantastic, long but fantastic and very informative. I’ll probably be ordering me some of that keisen foam and knifes and may be doing my toolboxes like that. Thanks again for everything and I hope my info helps you out as well… Take care and God Bless…
The Kaizen conundrum: a philosophy of continuous improvement, but you've spent hours making little holes so there's no room to add a tool or try out a different one, stifling improvement.
Thanks for sharing! Lots of great tips, and helpful, very detailed information. This is exactly what I've been looking to do with my new tool chest (and want to buy some new Tekton tools to fill it, instead of my mishmash of random ones I've acquired over the years). I've looked into the Rockler foam, but I think I might like this Kaizen stuff better with the red interior. Great look!
Thanks for the overview! One note about Husky toolboxes is the new version of the $129 4 drawer is far lower quality than the previous. The drawer slides are wobbly, and the cabinet handle is folded metal instead of tubular. Casters are also weaker.
Although NOT from Kaizen, I have been using foam for a while and made some not so great experiences. The problem that I had was that oil from the tools made the foam disintegrate/melt over the years. I think it was about 7 years or so. By the way, if someone still wants to use foam, there is a company in Germany (ToolBed), who in my opinion makes THE highest quality CUSTOM ORDER / CUSTOM CUT foam inserts.
Great breakdown. I'm looking forward to using this foam to help organize my toolbox. Its desperately in need and overdue. Also, I am a Combat Veteran, so I used the link you provided to learn about and ultimately sign up for Project 22. Thanks for including that.
Looks cool don't get me wrong. I personally don't have that much time on my hands. And it takes too much room in the drawer. You can fit 4 times the sockets in that drawer by using vertical magnetic socket organizers. I love the kaizen foam for hand tools in a case like drills and such. Great video...
Nice work. Im totally doing this for my huskey drawers and tekton tools You can use nail polish and clear coat in the grooves for the numbering of the socket size. Makes it easier to read the numbers.
P.s. great 👍 job over all love the battery hack for spacing , I also make branding irons from aluminum scrap to use under the sockets then fill in with paint, the reason I tried this method is I used plywood instead of kaizen foam that was fun 😀
I just checked the foam price again. 70 bucks and still too small for most of my drawers, so Id have to find the bigger size...Thats going to end up more than what I paid for my box. I dont get why its so freaking expension. Its just layered foam...I get it in packages every now and again and it cant be that much to justify using it as packaging material. Fine, maybe its a special foam that wont disolve in gas or oil but still...its what brings me back to eva play mats or yoga mats.
I’m a industrial maintenance tech / millwright. I use everything from an electronic screwdriver to pipe wrenches taller than me. There’s no way I can have my tool box that organized. We have to work fast to get the production equipment up and running ASAP. You organize later.
Whoa! I didn't even know this Kaizen foam existed. This would satisfy my OCD. Everyone always wants to borrow my tools because they are always organized and easy to find. This may exacerbate that situation but I don't care. It looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing the video!
Keep in mind that if you have a bunch of tools and a tool drawer or whatever the case may be that someone wants to borrow take photos always take photos if someone wants to borrow $6 biddies or Blu-Rays turn them on their spine, stacked and take a photo. If someone wants to borrow a dolly take photo it's acts as a reminder and proof as well as it usually time and date stamps it so you'll know if it's been gone too long and they might be planning on stealing it AKA borrow keep
This Kaizen configured toolbox thing is not new. Long before Kaizen was ever a thing back in 1985 when I was in the Air National Guard, this is how all the toolboxes were configured including the hand carried toolboxes. When you are having to look for things, time is wasted. That is a no no. In aviation as in other specialties you must know where your tools and materials are. It is not an option as a missing tool or materials will put a mission on hold as you cannot have tools or materials laying around to be ingested in an engine or shorting electronics because you had your head up your butt. Mission failure is not acceptable so organization is key in this. I can see why others don’t see the need of this level of organization, but not having to hunt for things that wastes time and could cost company downtime is no good either. I guess some don’t think their time is valuable. Oh well, mine is and so is this methodology and I know it has been around since 1985, maybe longer. To each their own. I choose this as it is squared away and organized. Stay safe my mates!😊👍🏻😷
I have been looking at different tool sets with foam from Kobalt to full blown Sonic tool eva sets. I am definitely going with Tekton and Kaizen setup. Thank you for this video it definitely sold me.
When it comes to wrenches and ratchets, you really can’t do better for the money than Tekton. They may not feel as move in the hands as snap on does but they are way stronger and have a stellar warranty and customer service
It what we in the Aviation business call Tool Control. We been doing this for years, Best cutting tool is a electric heated wire, cut form like butter.
You could use some red nail polish and paint where the size of the socket is engraved into the metal then wipe off the excess leaving only the engraved part with the polish in it so it stands out.
One trick I use is 3M tack spray & brown paper: The spray is removable- not permanent- and I lay everything out on the paper, then spray & fit the paper to the foam, then cut everything & remove the paper.
This is pretty common in Aviation Maintenance, and even required by some employers. Having worked most of my professional life with shadowed toolboxes I now can't imagine going back.
I was thinking this too. My buddies dad was an Air Force crew chief on the F15E and I remember back going to his shop and seeing all their snap on stuff organized and prefect like this thinking "man, one day I have to have this". Will probably never lay out the change for the snap off but, my motley crew of stuff I've accumulated over the years may at least get some new digs after watching this.
I do like the foam draw organizers!! But I had to laugh when you called the Imperial/ SAE tools as "USA" for fraction sized sockets!! What a lot of people (especially younger folks) don't realize is that Imperial measurements are much older than metric dating back centuries at this point in time!! And the reason I had to laugh is my own son once called my SAE/ Imperial sockets "unmetric"!!
Haha I caught that mistake when I was editing the video. Funny thing is my “USA Made” truck uses all metric fasteners and my 67’ Datsun uses all SAE. Okay that’s just funny. I might have to start using “unmetric.”
What is the best tools really? Feel to the hand, use in everyday hands, Sharpe edges, slightly different sizes than others, lengths, finishes, it just goes on and on but everyone is different when it comes hand tools.
On the tekton sockets, fill the engraved numbers with a oil based paint like red white or blue. Then use a rag that's wet with alcohol. And ever so slightly wipe over the oil paint. Thus cleaning it up and leaving a painted engraved numbering. I do this with a lot of my wrenches and sockets. Even my ratchet to make it pop more
This is so friggin awesome! I have my tools the same way, I used 1/4 inch rubber mats that they sold at the dollar store! no where near is nice but it did the job!
I love the way the foam looks and your cuts are very precise. I just don't know if I have the patience to do it. Especially the sockets since most people have including me probably have a hundred or more separate ones.
I've been down this path it's all inventory control so you know when something is missing .This would take me a couple of days to do then the foam would get messed up . I use socket rails plain simple I don't need the pretty look.
I have a Triple snap on bottom. I have a Double snap on top. And I have the large locker. I've got so much stuff in the toolbox it takes 3 people to move it.
My man, work on reducing that echo. Put some blankets up offscreen or get a boom/shotgun/lavalier mic to reduce it. The echo makes the video hard to listen to and would overall improve your quality a lot.
As a aircraft mechanic in the military it was required for every tool box to be set up this way I did my own boxes in 1980.Ive had to redo many times. My own tools all the sockets are on socket rails cut off the extra and cutout the foam and drop the whole rail in. The road kits in my trucks are setup the same the exception is the box top isn't foamed in. It's got the light. Magnet trays gloves and spray lube
I like a complete set of tools, when working I can pick up the whole set out of the drawer over to the work area. If say the set was bought at different times and you have no case, I’d like to see how to make a case for a given set of wrenches or what ever tool set. Some cases in complete sets can be weak not meant to store or work out of can break apart leaving you without a case.
at that price, one can find some other nice foam sheets. those knives (with the exception of the thin blade) are regular snap off utility knives... add a hobby knife (xacto) and you can do the job. personally I prefer my sockets being upright in the tool chest, but I like your idea of using a battery as a spacer for tools.
My thoughts exactly. That open cell foam is shit. I found some nice closed cell foam mats, designed for kids playgrounds for about 5 bucks a square meter. Much tougher too. I work in aviation, so all it would take is to spill a bit of MEK into a drawer and that entire sheet of foam would dissolve! lol ...and yes, I would need 2 drawers if I were to lay all my sockets down like that. Waste of space.
that looks really nice but looks like it took a TON of time to do... plus what do you do if a socket cracks or a wratchet breaks? Do you have to just do it over again?
