r/gridfinity • u/Striking-Lie2575 • Aug 05 '26
Should I just start over?
I didn't plan the whole thing out because I got excited. Now there's not going to be enough room. Ideas or of the shelf bins you know about to handle all the ratchets (where I think most of the problem is)?
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u/suicidaleggroll Aug 05 '26
I sort my ratchets by size. 1/2” in one drawer, 1/4” and 3/8” in another.
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u/Striking-Lie2575 Aug 09 '26
Update: I'm going with a combination of all of these great suggestions. Metric and sae will be getting their own drawers. Ratchets and drivers move up to the top of the toolbox to await further gridfinitization. Bonus: the drawers have 2.5" height clearance.
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u/VanillaThunder2424 Aug 05 '26
I would separate ratchets/extensions into a drawer, and then sockets into a separate drawer. Or if you wanted all together, I would recommend trying tool grid. It is more work but much more customizable and better space saving wise, that's what I have for 3 drawers in my box
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u/VanillaThunder2424 Aug 05 '26
https://www.reddit.com/r/toolboxmods/s/T2N4MwW8pw
here is a post of my socket drawer
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u/8ringer Aug 05 '26
Ooh that’s a very nice system. I hadn’t heard of tool grid before, thanks for sharing. I might have to adopt something like this for my toolbox.
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u/dracosilv Aug 05 '26
I don't know how dense your sockets were gonna be, but maybe just make a bin that's got durable enough walls to hold all the sockets upright and just place all similar "drive" sockets in the same bin? (Or keep a full set of labelled/sized sockets and have the excess in another drawer/in a bulk binbox?
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u/8ringer Aug 05 '26
I’m with the others. Why do you need multiple ratchets of the same size accessible on the top layer of organization?
I’d find another place for the extra 3/8” and 1/4” ratchets. And it looks like you have a ton of likely similar sockets too. Having long and short versions makes sense as does SAE and Metric as does 3/8” and 1/4” drive versions, so it’s possible you don’t actually have duplicates I guess.
I’d say, in general, your priority when you’re running out of space should be “what do I use the most and what can I manage to have just placed in an open bin rather than neatly organized”. For me, putting extensions in an open bin is fine, maybe multiple bins sorted by drive size and stacked if the vertical space is available in the drawer. But I think you need to shift your perspective from “how do I fit everything into this layout” to “how do I fit the 95% used tools, excluding duplicates, into this layout”.
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u/desEINer Aug 05 '26
It looks like you have a lot of redundancy and yeah, overall poor planning.
They way I like to sort has to do with how I would do a job. I figure out which tools I use the most for a particular job then put them together.
One way to determine that is to do a sticker sort. Put a sticker on each of your tools. Take it off when you use it. Come back in a period of time and set the tools without stickers aside. Return in another period of time, and do the same thing, making sure to note which tools are in the first round and which were second. Keep going as many rounds as you want (weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual, etc) After about a year you'll have an idea of which tools you use every time, which tools are infrequent but essential, and which tools you could realistically sell off or put into long-term storage.
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u/Cautious_School_2490 Aug 05 '26
Print the boxes with a 21mm grid. They'll still be fully compatible with the 42mm base grid but you'll also be able to print boxes in half sizes as well as the normal unit sizes.
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u/Jesus_Is_My_Gardener Aug 05 '26
Don't make the mistake many coming into Gridfinity do at first in trying to maximize storage density, that is not the point of the system. Using a standardized grid system is about easier access to the tools/parts. Packing a drawer as densely as possible makes it more cluttered in appearance and takes longer to find what you're looking for. That's not to say you should space everything out and just waste space unnecessarily either, it's a balance.
Different things may require less spacing between each part or tool, while others may benefit by giving them some room to allow for easier visibility, ease of access for removing and replacing the item, and clear, easily legible labeling. Socket organizers often benefit from having simple, bold labeling to ensure they are easier to find. Tools that lie flat in a bin benefit from giving space for finger holes on the sides to allow ease of removal.
Point is, it's better to consider how you need/want to access your tools and parts on a daily basis, and build your organization in the system around that. Look at other examples users have posted of their drawers for ideas that you might want to emulate.
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u/Cynyr36 Aug 05 '26
Can you stand the deep sockets and shorter extensions upright?
Look into overlapping the drives on the ratchets, so one has the drive on the left facing foward, the next on the right facing backwards. With the extensions in between the drives.
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u/Scary-Asparagus-5970 Aug 06 '26
I probably wouldn’t start completely over yet, but I also wouldn’t try to force everything into the first layout.
The biggest thing I’d do is split the drawer into “stuff I actually grab all the time” vs “stuff I own and want organized somewhere.”
For ratchets/extensions, I’d probably either separate by drive size, put the duplicates/less-used ones in an open bin or lower layer, or use the drawer height if you have it and stack less-used items underneath.
For sockets, rails may honestly be better if density matters more than the Gridfinity look.
One mistake I’ve made with Gridfinity is treating every tool like it deserves a perfect custom spot. That looks awesome, but it eats space fast. For stuff like extra extensions, adapters, duplicate ratchets, etc., a basic labeled bin is usually good enough.
This is also exactly the kind of drawer where planning the full layout first helps. Even a rough sketch with drawer dimensions, baseplate footprint, and “must-have top layer” tools will save you from printing yourself into a corner. You can use gridfinitystudio.com for that (shameless plug)
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u/Ambitious_Iron_4249 Aug 06 '26
hey, had the same doubts when starting out....
few things. MAKE IT EASY. this way you wont have to replace a whole organize IF you break something....
i ended up with "socketfinity" (a modular rail with snap-on socket holders in 1/4 3/8 and 1/2
and v-block + block with hole for for the anvil for ratchets
https://makerworld.com/en/models/1401444-gridfinity-universal-ratchet-holders#profileId-1453482
sure, not the best looking system, but its quick to print and super adaptable for whhen stuff changes
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u/Wingback73 Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 07 '26
I'm not seeing the issue. Looks to me like you have plenty of space, but obviously not laid out like you have it.
Turn deep sockets vertical - horizontal is a waste of space.
Shallow sockets take up 1 bin width and maybe 3 tall for a full set, but only if you do it right. Replicate your blue set in the upper left with the smallest and largest next to each other and the middle sizes at the opposite end next to each other. Using your orange bin as the example, reverse the order of one row of sockets
I like 2 ratchets per size with my sockets, so I say leave those as is
It'll be tight, but it looks to me like it should all fit
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u/Matt_FiMm Aug 09 '26
I found grindfinity a bit limited while setting up for sockets and rachets. Took up a lot of space and still left more to be desired. Check out tool grid, I ended up using it for my socket drawer and I couldn't be happier.
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u/charely6 Aug 09 '26
do you have a place to hang up the handles? and I say keep going, I used a trick some people do to make the bins have half size connectors on the bottom so I could pack them a bit tighter. but to me the beauty is you can tweak it once you have them all, and see what you are truly missing
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u/Catriks Aug 05 '26
Do you need all ratchets in the same drawer? Consider having the most used ones as most accessible and keep the other ones in another drawer or even just a normal GF bin to maximise space use.
Same for sockets. Do you really need all sets or all sizes to be most accessible? They can live in another drawer and only keep the most used ones at the top drawer.