I’ve been working on organizing my garage and realized that my sockets need to be better organized.  I have them on some of those expanding clip trays that are really cheap,  but they don’t really hold the sockets in place.  Most of them are too loose after only a few times removing them.

Update!  Here’s the first ‘finished products’ I’ve made.

Here’s what I’m thinking for the “best” design

• Should be easily to identify the socket set while in the drawer.  3/8″ metric drive shallow sockets?  Check.
• Should be space efficient to pack the most tools in the smallest space possible.
• Need to be portable and easily removed (as a set) from the drawer when needed.  I love the looks of the entire drawer organizers, but they lack the portability I need.
• Organizers should not fall over and/or spill either in the drawer or when they are removed to be used
• Sockets need to be retained well, but easy to remove with oily/greasy hands and/or gloves on.

The basic concept I’m working on, and I think it’s new, is to make a set of nesting curved trays.  Something along the lines of this:

Early concept for curved socket holder/organizer

I’m designing this as an early project to learn Autodesk Fusion 360, which I find incredibly powerful but much different to use than my previous software, Sketchup.  The CAM abilities built in to Fusion 360 make it a no brainer for anyone who wants to export toolpaths for CNC use.

Next steps:  Physically lay out and measure some real sockets on an existing piece of paper.  Identify how much “wasted space” there will be and work on minimizing this.