Restocking the most used "tools"?

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takza
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Restocking the most used "tools"?

Post by takza »

I'm always looking for a 12 mm socket...or a 10 mm...or a 14 mm. Or the same in box end or ratcheting box end wrenches.

I should maybe make a bandolier with these hanging on it.

I throw all my sockets, adapters, and socket wrenches in one bag and then spend 10 mins trying to find these all the time.

Where can I find replacement sockets and an occasional box end in one size without buying a full set?
Give a boy a gun-give a biatch a cell phone-and pretty soon you almost got yourself a police state.

Orwell said: War is peace! Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength...

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ARCHINSTL
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Re: Restocking the most used "tools"?

Post by ARCHINSTL »

takza wrote:Where can I find replacement sockets and an occasional box end in one size without buying a full set?
AutoZone (and I guess Advance & O'Reilly as well) sells single sockets and wrenches. I just bought a couple of 6-point sockets at AZ. There are even two brands, as well as standard and deep-types in several insert persuasions.
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
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"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
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shogun
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Post by shogun »

buy craftsman they have lifetime guaranty, they have changed me like three rachets
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Mac
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Post by Mac »

a bag? get a toolbox, a small one will do, and after every job, put them all back in the box. thats what i do, haven't lost a socket yet.

you also prevent running the risk of closing the hood with a tool still under the hood.
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Logbear
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Post by Logbear »

Has anybody else color coded their wrenches and sockets. I color coded mine a long time ago. Now the paint is wearing off. I used model paint on the tool and then painted the number 10, 12, 14, 17 with the appropriate color on the inside to the toolbox lid. I found it very easy to find what I wanted that way.
I used yellow 10, red 12, green 14, white 17, and black 19.
Oh and just because I had them in the box Orange 13, blue 15.
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Post by ARCHINSTL »

One does things like that when one's eyes change...
Tom M.
PS: I did that color coding thing "a while back..."
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
MootsMan
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Post by MootsMan »

That's a great idea.....my advancing chronological syndrome had affected my reading vision, and socket manufacturers seem to use the smallest imprints known to man when stamping the size on the sockets. Why don't they put it in big bold numbers right on the side ?? :lol:
1984 Tercel 4wd Dlx. - 192K miles.
1985 Tercel 4wd SR5 - 185K miles (not running)
1986 Tercel 4wd Dlx - 210K miles (dd)

Only 3 to go for the whole set ! lol
takza
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Post by takza »

Give a boy a gun-give a biatch a cell phone-and pretty soon you almost got yourself a police state.

Orwell said: War is peace! Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength...

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Post by ARCHINSTL »

MootsMan wrote:seem to use the smallest imprints known to man when stamping the size on the sockets. Why don't they put it in big bold numbers right on the side ?? :lol:
Because the designers/bean counters are less than 30...
You'd think the numbers could be put on some kind of contrasting buffed-type background.
GREAT idea - wish Craftsman/Kobalt would adopt the idea - too bad HF is (apparently) the only source/quality grade...

The younger members are nose-snorting milk now at our comments, but they'll find out..... 8)
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
Typrus
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Post by Typrus »

Great Neck and Duralast both have lifetime guarantee's.
I work there. I know. Autozone that is.

Duralast tools are actually pretty decent. Great Neck are fairly cheap, but their torque wrenches are nice and accurate.


Also, Craftsman has a line of sockets with rather large laser-etched sizing on them.

Hey, just because I'm 19 doesn't mean I don't appreciate being able to read the actual size without having to walk over to it and stare closely. Not only people twice my age are near-sighted you know. lol.

Color-coded? Hell, I can't remember what size they are if I put them in a row. lol... I'm pathetic in that regard.
RIP 10-07- 1984 Toyota Tercel SR5 4wd Wagen 6 speed

RIP 04-05- 1986 Toyota Tercel SR5 4wd Wagen 6 speed

1st Terc- 1987 Tercel SR5 4wd Wagon 6-speed, Sadly cubed

1985 Tercel Standard 4wd Wagon w/ 3-speed auto, Living a happy life in Boulder last I knew
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Post by ARCHINSTL »

Oooops - I did not mean to dis' Great Neck or Duralast...Lord knows I have some of those sockets as well - and as well as having spent a lot of money at AZ since acquiring Goldie.
It's just that 99% of my tools are Craftsman, left over from the bike shop - we had 5 workbench stations with a full complement of wrenches (nothing much beyond 17mm, though).

On a different note - Congrats on working at AZ! I guess I missed you telling us that. It will be a great learning experience! It's amazing the things you learn just by being "around" stock.
I still like going into HD or Lowes and just browsing the aisles, learning what's there and what can be adapted for an alternative use.
Way to go!
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
takza
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Post by takza »

ARCHINSTL wrote:
I still like going into HD or Lowes and just browsing the aisles, learning what's there and what can be adapted for an alternative use.
Way to go!
Tom M.
That's fun till "they" decide you might be a shoplifter and start following you around?

And I was going to mention the thing about having to remember which color is what number....

I just do things the traditional way...bitch and moan about not being able to find that damned 12 mm socket again. I can spend maybe 5 mins on that alone on most jobs....it's easier than trying to remember what color a 12 mm socket is?
Give a boy a gun-give a biatch a cell phone-and pretty soon you almost got yourself a police state.

Orwell said: War is peace! Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength...

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Typrus
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Post by Typrus »

Lol... I hear ya. Though those laser-etched CM sockets ARE pretty cool.

I dunno. Most of my coworkers don't have 1/4 my experience, but they have 21/5ths my cockiness. I really get tired of their BS'ing about "things they know" but not much I can do.
The hours they are giving me are miserable right now. I'm thinking about going up to Advance. Defector! Defector! But hey, full time beats 12 hours a week.
RIP 10-07- 1984 Toyota Tercel SR5 4wd Wagen 6 speed

RIP 04-05- 1986 Toyota Tercel SR5 4wd Wagen 6 speed

1st Terc- 1987 Tercel SR5 4wd Wagon 6-speed, Sadly cubed

1985 Tercel Standard 4wd Wagon w/ 3-speed auto, Living a happy life in Boulder last I knew
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Post by ARCHINSTL »

takza wrote:....it's easier than trying to remember what color a 12 mm socket is?
Aw, heck....I use the fingernail polish method on the sockets, so before I start a job, I just throw some polish on the old nails and use a black felt-tipped marker on the now-painted nail to match the already-painted socket...you know - "red nail gets a '12,' aqua nail gets a '13,' violet nail gets a '14,' and so forth..."
When I forget, I just look down at my hands and there you are!

But seriously, the above method could be used as small patches inside the lid of the toolbox.

When you sidle up to the cosmetics counter at Walgreens, just tell the girl "Tom M. sent me."
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
takza
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Post by takza »

It actually WOULD make some sense to get out a spray can and paint all the 10...12...14 mm stuff 3 different colors? I might manage 3 colors...for awhile at least. :D

Take me a couple of days to find them all.... :?
Give a boy a gun-give a biatch a cell phone-and pretty soon you almost got yourself a police state.

Orwell said: War is peace! Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength...

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