• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.

    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Color coded sockets.

PAUL161

Great Pumpkin
Silver
Country flag
Offline
I have to use reading glasses to read the sizes of sockets. It's a pain when using two or three different sockets close to the same size when under a vehicle or in a peculiar situation. I just saw this cheap set of thin wall sockets, metric or std. that are color coded. easy to switch sockets once you know the coded color. Ok, their Harbor Freight and not high quality, but could make things a little easier in a bind, or should I say Blind! :thumbsup2: PJ
color sockets.jpg
 
Paul - looks like a good idea. Are the actual sizes marked on the sockets? Or do you have to use some kind of chart to see what color equals what size?

(y)
 
I have them - and while I still tend to read the size because I forget the colours they are useful (and yes Tom, sizes are still on them)
 
Usually just using the MK-1 Eyeball on fastener and socket works for me. Trying to memorize colors would be one more 'step' and too much trouble.
 
When I got my first set of Craftsman metric sockets, my mother had just bought her first Brother P-Touch label maker. I wrapped a big, bold, black-on-white label around each socket right over the barely-there stamped numbers. Eventually the three most-used sizes lost their labels, but since they were 10, 13, and 19mm it was easy to tell them apart.

In hindsight I might have gotten away with labeling every other socket, but with SAE (or Whitworth) I think I'd label each one.
 
I've gotten fairly good at estimating the size of the nut to the right wrench.
Sometimes I get tripped up between 12 mm and 1/2".
Close enough for government work.
A few years ago I bought a big set of foil stick on labels.
Never used them.
 
Been using the color coded HF sockets for years. After a while you just know what color is which. Wish they used an entirely different set of colors for metric though. It gets confusing when you have both types of sockets laying all over the bench (of floor most often). Never broke one yet.
 
Back
Top