English Wrench Inventory & Organization

My wrenches aren’t wooden :joy::joy::joy:

But I’ll bet you could make a pretty good VF pattern in wood. :innocent:

I’ll have to try now lol

I have a few ‘notional’ (would like to do, haven’t started) projects for the VF.

Inkscape will, indeed, automatically generate outlines from a scanned image. There are a number of online tutorials/howtos on the subject. It will also let you define additional margin of an arbitrary value around the outlines. It looks like it will be perfect for generating tool outlines for whatever approach someone chooses. You can add finger troughs directly in Inkscape, or use the SVG or DXF output to import into your favorite CAD package.

I just took the laser 101 Safety. I am going to take a picture of the wrenches and try to bring them in to v carve and see how well it can trace them to make my svg file. I like the foam idea but I would also like to label all the wrenches and make a sign saying please put the tool back in their home. I am thinking about make out of 3 layers of something like 1/8 plywood. The bottom layer would just be a flat broad. The middle layer would be a close cut out of the wrench profile. On the top layer I would off set the wrench profile by about 1/8 to 3/16( this would make it easier to pick the tools up) . the layers could each be painted different colors to make it look cool.

There is a lot of things to think about,
What exactly would we do with all the extra?
Should we fit both metic and english in the same drawer ?
Maybe all the extra should go in their own drawer?

I strongly suggest you look at Inkscape for this and adding margin, it really looks like the right answer.

Plywood’s OK, especially if it’s painted with something that is oil/grease resistant like an epoxy.

I think you’ll find this to be a bad idea for a number of reasons. Some are:

  • Any debris will jam the tool in place. Larger margins don’t prevent this, but it will be easier to lever the tool out.
  • Even painted wood moves. Ply is generally stable compared to bulk wood, but it still moves and swells some.
  • We have a mix of wrenches and missing units will need to be replaced. Close fit will require the trays get replaced for any replacement tools.

You also might consider fewer thicker layers like 3/8" or 1/2" and there is no real reason they need to be the same thickness.

I’d also make the finger troughs go through all three layers, and make them wide (at least 1") so that us hamfisted types with sausage fingers and clubs for thumbs can get the tools out.

I’d put two or three of the same size together. We often have more than one person using wrenches in the shop at the same time.

I’d prefer not unless the drawer ended up half empty. It’s not the way I think about the probelm. Others will likely have differnet opinions.

Me, I’d put duplicates in longer term storage as replacements for the inevitable losses.

AND: It’s metric and SAE wrenches. English spanners are an entirely different thing. :crazy_face:

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I was thinking about making like 5 spots for 10mm wrench and on the 5th spot say " if you need this wrench go in to the shop and find at least one of the other ones and make it gets returned."

Or an April 1st version that is a drawer full of only 10mm - but that’s really an automotive gag.

I am thinking about use the laser to cut and engrave this project
would I engrave it before or after I use this paint/ epoxy

I’d deeply engrave the top layer, paint it, stack the layers and fill the engraving with contrasting epoxy

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