As many of you know, I’m a sucker for tools, as evidenced by the Tool of the Month series . If you’ve watched our YouTube channel at all, you know I also really like to nerd out in 3D design and modeling in the shop to get things to fit nicely. Well, I recently got a chance to put both to good use as I found myself needing to completely revamp the top socket drawer of my toolbox.
After a bit of a tool buying spree, where I found the awesomeness of mid-length sockets and some new 90-tooth ratchets, I needed to add some socket-holding capacity to the top drawer of my trusty Binford 6100 toolbox. I had previously gotten a little artsy over the holiday break, and bolted a bunch of anodized aluminum socket rails to some galvanized Wall Control panels, laid flat in the drawer. While that looked incredibly cool, there were a few problems.
The 1-inch depth of the panels meant that my deep 1/2-inch-drive sockets couldn’t stand up in the drawer. The 1-inch on-center pegboard pattern was a nice alignment tool, but didn’t really maximize the available space for rows of sockets. Also, the socket rails I used previously have provisions for a #10 socket-head cap screw, but the holes in the Wall Control are 1/4-inch diameter. That meant that I had to use a washer and nylock nut on the back of each screw, making any changes quite a pain, since each rail spans at least two panels.
The old top-drawer setup. It consisted of aluminum socket rails bolted to galvanized steel Wall Control panels. This setup definitely looks amazing, but has some unique spacing limitations.
Finally, the cost of additional rails from the same manufacturer was going to be on the steep side, as they are not on sale at Amazon anymore, and come in at about $14 each. So to accommodate my new sockets, it was going to cost about $100 for just the new socket rails, if I decided to match what I already had. Conversely, if I decided to go with a different style, I was looking at significantly more money (socket holders have gotten spendy).
Enter 3D Printing
After stopping and thinking about it for a couple of weeks, Amazon Prime day rolled around, and wouldn’t you know it, not a single one of the options I was looking at went on sale. What did go on sale, however, was 3D printer filament. Specifically, black and gray PLA (Polylactic Acid). While not quite the original anodized black and orange theme I originally had, I was able to get six one-kilogram spools for significantly less than just…
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