Socket set storage Q

[Rick Hughes]

I'd agree with that

[Dave Liquorice]

Sugru?

In the days of Strand Glass they had flexable mould material(*) that started off as a liquid and end up as a pretty tough flexable rubbery thing.

Blocking the holes in the sockets might need thinking about and I'd lift them up off the bottom of the box a little (match sticks) so the goop gets under them to provide a buffer from the metal case.

I don't think you need a release agent and if you only went about

1/2" up the sockets, maybe less, they'll be nice and snug fit. A bit of trial and error might be needed.

(*) Probably silicone rubber, I've googled but can't find a UK supplier. Some look to have critical mixing ratios and vacum degassing but others are somewhat less fussy.

[polygonum]

If silicone rubber:

But possibly Vinamold:

[Dave Plowman (News)]

What they need is a special terry clip where the 'waist' lines up with the groove in the socket that the ball on the drive goes into. If they have one, of course.

[Jeremy Nicoll - news posts]

Long ago I bought one of those Aluminium suitcases with very springy partly cut-through foam rubber cubes in it, for use with 35mm camera equipment. I threw away the foam and designed a 3d structure of dense foam; where 'walls' of the stuff met I made them join with eg mortice & tenon joints. Items I used rarely were in nests/wells under other stuff, with lids that sat on dwarf walls which gripped the sides of the underneath stuff. I ended up with lots of equipment in the case, all well protected.

The 'dense foam' was a very cheap camping carrymat.

[Rick Hughes]

I think both of those are meant to produce a thin flexible mold that can be peeled off an item and used again & again .... not sure how it would be if used up to 1" thick

I could use 2 part epoxy resin, but that has no give ... so would either not grip sockets, or be so tight you wouldn't get them out again.

Maybe I'll give up and put them in a tray such as these:

[Onetap]

I think I got them in Eurocarparts, not sure though. Screwed to a shadow board, metal box binned. Sockets bought in 1978 still going. You could probably pop-rivet the metal strip thing into the box, with terry clips for the wrenches and extension bars.

[polygonum]

I have seen vinamold used to make moulds well over an inch thick. Mostly I have seen rubber moulds made as the inner layer with a thick plaster "overcoat". But even then it has sometimes been pretty thick in places - certainly over an inch at "corners".