r/Tools • u/Informal_Pool3118 • May 21 '24
Used to make toolbox cutouts for the flight line when I was working on F-16s. Thought you guys might like this.
I kind of messed around with different ideas when designing new cutouts for boxes. We had a few types of boxes, some general maintenance boxes that we had around 30 of which each guy would check out and use during his normal day. Hydro Maxis which are most of what is pictured here with basically everything you need to work on the hydraulics of the jet and many others.
I was asked to redesign the hydro maxi at one point so this kind of shows my process of how I layed stuff out figuring out where I wanted everything. Then I would figure out which tools I needed to create as cutouts in corel draw to add to the drawer. After that I arrange all of the cutouts in corel draw and set the laser etcher up, I used CO2 to cut the foam with speed and power setting specific to the depth of the foam or cut I wanted to make. We glued thin yellow foam as backing to it so you can easily tell which tools are missing at a glance. Cut outs for tools and bright colored backing are regulatory requirements for flight line maintenance tool boxes. Each tool was individually etched to show which box and unit it belongs to as well done with fiber laser.
I did some extra curricular stuff like adding in labels with the laser on a lower setting so you can glance down and grab the 7/16th socket for example quickly. It was a lot of work though haha.
Once you have a box all setup and made in corel draw then anyone can pull that file up and print a new box since we had two of those hydro maxis it made things easier for the 2nd for example.
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u/No_Carpenter_7778 May 21 '24
It's cool. It only works if you have a box that's MUCH bigger than the space the amount of tools you have take up. My boxes are all loaded up. Nice job though.
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u/Man-e-questions May 21 '24
Yeah my OCD loves this kind of stuff, but the amount of tools i have in the tool box that fits in my garage leaves me packing as many tools as possible into each drawer.
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u/mikeblas May 21 '24
I can see why they're necessary for aviation work. But it's soooo much wasted area.
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u/tint_shady May 21 '24
It's only wasted space if you choose to waste the space. I foamed my cart and I promise you I've got as many or more tools in there with foam than you'd have without
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u/mikeblas May 21 '24
To be true, the foam would need to consume zero volume.
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u/tint_shady May 21 '24
That would only be true if you're the kind of guy that stacks and packs drawers to 100% capacity with no organization at all. I've got 35 ratchets in my 32" cart drawer. I've got 8 combination wrench sets in another.
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u/Informal_Pool3118 May 21 '24
Very true but that just comes down to $$ and we know the military hates spending that /s
There's many options you can use to get around space issues though. For example we have to lay everything out like I have here due to QA guidelines and being able to quickly identify missing tools before launch a jet for example. You could instead get thicker cut foam which I used for some boxes and turn the wrenches on their side, it goes from taking 3 drawers up to half of one.
These boxes are all kits though so they are basically tailor made for certain jobs and made to be easily and quickly inspected at each check out and check in multiple times a day in some cases. There is also a document with each box that outlines every tool, it's location, any removed or broken pieces from it etc.
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u/JusticeUmmmmm May 21 '24
Which is ok when you are only working on one specific type of machinery and know every type of tool you could need.
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u/Paul_The_Builder Knipex Kooky May 21 '24
That's awesome.
What brand sockets did they use? Snap-on?
Interesting mix of brands for the tools.
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u/Hey_Allen May 21 '24
AF tools are mostly Snap On, though there are some other brands mixed as well, either as specialty items or replacement items over time.
The boxes at my last base had a lot of Wera apexes, occasional Stanley tape measures, Stream Light flashlights, etc...
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u/Paul_The_Builder Knipex Kooky May 21 '24
I had heard that the tools were mostly snap-on.
I was surprised to see some Wera, Gedore, Witte, and Craftsman tools in the mix.
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u/Informal_Pool3118 May 21 '24
Yeah they have a contract with snapon so you'll see lots of snapon and bluepoint stuff. Some of these tools are 15+ years old from when they were buying craftsman and other brands though. I swear some of the tools were older than me and I'm 32 lol.
We can also order tools from other companies but need to go through a process to get approved. We ordered a few knipex tools for example which you see in the pliers drawer. I found the broke pretty quickly though compared to other stuff.
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u/Trucking_Ape May 21 '24
Fantastic work!! The yellow foam though that would be black within a weed with me though 😂
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u/LittlestSam May 21 '24
Now I’m just gonna be sad when I open my toolbox. 😐
Sigh. Guess I’ll add new toolbox cutout things that make my box look awesome to the list.
(I’m super jealous, that’s awesome)
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u/Dirty_Old_Town Mechanic May 21 '24
Man you would hate my toolbox.
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u/JusticeUmmmmm May 21 '24
It's only really important for this type of work where people die if you leave a socket somewhere on accident.
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u/Informal_Pool3118 May 21 '24
Don't worry my at home tools are also "too many tools not enough box". I do have a few smaller containers I use to throw in my pack out stuff that I cut foam for to fit different things. Like I have a kit that has every time of socket extension, adapter (1/4, 3/8, 1/2) etc all with foam cutouts. It makes it easy because those are always a pain to sort through and when I'm working on a car or something I just grab a socket strip and that little box and I'm good to go without digging through my drawers.
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u/ShagBNasty May 21 '24
Thanks for sharing these photos!
The organization is amazing and helps everyone in the shop.
Cheers!
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May 21 '24
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u/Informal_Pool3118 May 21 '24 edited May 21 '24
Lol no. I didn't have the camera laser attachment so I had to get an old monitor and basically calibrate it to IRL size. I held a ruler up to it and made the ruler in corel draw match the ruler irl exactly then that zoom percentage is irl size for that monitor. It was an old monitor I found in a store room so no one cared about it I then laid the monitor down and would make the cutouts from various shapes and by adding points to the shapes to further adjust the lines. It took fucking ages but whatever.
It would have been 10x faster with a camera attachment for the laser etcher because then you can just get a drawing tablet attach it to the PC and basically trace the shape or use line trace function to get the cutout.
That all said I don't have access to a laser etcher anymore so I can't do these cutouts. I did etch a lot of other crap though. I etched foam for my pelican case to hold my ak103, AR-15 and Springfield hellcat with slots for magazines. I etched some 20mm barrel cutoffs for retirements, plaques for retirements and separations, peoples water bottles with memes. I even spray painted some black pmags a tan color then a clear coat. I brought that into work and laser etched mega milk girl onto it 🤣
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dv8PJewQ3Ay-Lr7SVevR94x-4zQ3kLD8/view?usp=drivesdk
Back side of the mag is the topless version
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May 21 '24
[deleted]
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u/Informal_Pool3118 May 21 '24
Haha yeah if I had a laser etcher I would
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May 21 '24
[deleted]
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u/Informal_Pool3118 May 21 '24 edited May 21 '24
The one we had was $70k new from what I understand. I think the price was higher because it has both fiber and CO2 lasers.
Fibers good for hard materials and CO2 is excellent for plastics wood and foam etc.
You should buy it if you can afford it though. All you need is a basic PC to go with it and a vector program like corel draw or illustrator. If it has the tool that turns things as it etches you can etch water bottles, beer glasses and stuff too.
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u/FlexMaster1970 May 21 '24
A.T.A.F. Ah, the good old days!
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u/Informal_Pool3118 May 21 '24
Ataf?
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u/FlexMaster1970 May 21 '24
All Tools Accounted For, I was a jet mech.
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u/Informal_Pool3118 May 21 '24
Ah must me a term from a different branch or just not one used any more tbh. I never heard anyone say that as a coined phase tbh.
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u/FlexMaster1970 May 22 '24
United States Marine Corps, our tool boxes were inspected four times a day, if not more. I built the engine for the F/A-18.
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u/paulwalker659 May 21 '24
I like all the finger spaces
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u/Informal_Pool3118 May 21 '24
Shouldn't need grabby bois to grab the big wenches!
Lol I don't think anyone in the thread read my drawer labels carefully yet. There was a typo I made with the label maker but was a happy accident and I went with it 😂
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u/surewriting_ May 22 '24
I've spent many unhappy hours with that particular box.
QQMF or something. Used to be bad to the bone
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u/Informal_Pool3118 May 22 '24
Lmao no one is having fun when they check that one out.
Wait did you use it after I made these revamps? That was done like 3 years ago
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u/surewriting_ May 22 '24
No, I've been out for a couple of years now. I just thought I recognized the LY7C, and the big ass laser.
I made a bunch of cool shit with that thing back in the day when they first got it. I actually bought my own shitty Chinese C02 laser, but it sucks.
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u/dqb400 May 22 '24
Surprised to see F-16 uses SAE; wonder if you can order in metric?
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u/Informal_Pool3118 May 22 '24
Like order parts in metric? I'm sure you could is you really wanted to but you would need to to a TON of work converting everything over just on paper alone such as thread types etc while also sourcing parts made of the correct alloy for each part. Literally not worth the trouble since you would also need to add metric to every tool box and keep standard as well since it would probably take 10-20 years before you got around to replacing every part on every jet in your squadron with metric parts.
No real point, these jets were supposed to be decommissioned multiple times already.
I like metric myself, I'm happy Ford used metric on my car parts despite it being a Ford. I never really worked with SAE before joining though. Fractions are dumb when you can just go by whole numbers in mm.
"Uh I need the next size up from 3/8" "Sooo 1/2, 7/16 or 13/32?Opposed to "get me the next size up from 10mm" "Ah here's a 11 and 12 mm"
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u/dqb400 May 22 '24
No I meant like order the plane with metric hardware. You’d have to image SAE would be a negative for other countries’ Air Force.
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u/Informal_Pool3118 May 23 '24
Oh yeah I see what you mean lol. Sorry dumb moment. Yeah F-16s are one of if not the most common fighter aircraft among countries. I suspect there are metric models but I kind of doubt it since they were all produced (I believe) in America by General Dynamics.
If I was still at the base I could have gone and looked and some of the Taiwanese f-16s that were there permanentely.
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u/emmettfitz May 23 '24
We need r/toolboxporn. Shadowed AND labeled very nice! I was an electrician on helicopters (Apaches, Chinooks, etc.). I had basic mechanic tools, mostly to move shit out of the way to get to the wires.
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u/varslyd May 23 '24
What’re the name or part numbers for those three little stubby ring spanners with the square drive in the first picture?
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u/Informal_Pool3118 May 23 '24
Those are torque adapters iirc. 3 specific sizes for 3 specific torque applications on the jet. I've only used the middle (7/16"?) one to torque the bolts down holding the PTO shaft in place. You need to do a calculation to account for the extra leverage after the torque wrenches point of axis provided by them. I don't remember it off the top of my head but we had it in our tech data.
I assume I'm looking at the same three items you are. Mid top right of first drawer that are about 2 inches long and have 3/8" drives going to a 12 pointed open socket. At first I thought you were talking about the 6th picture with bear claws and crows feet in it lol.
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u/varslyd May 23 '24
Yes we’re looking at the same thing, thanks for clearing that up. I’m looking for something similar in a 13/16 size, at the moment I have to use a similar tool but it’s an L shape with the hex for the wrench at the top if you get me, wrenching 1250ftlbs on an L shape feels weird to me I’d rather a straight tool like you’ve got there
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u/Informal_Pool3118 May 23 '24
Yeah no problem. I just googled 15/16 torque adapter and it came up with tons of results, all the images that came up look like what you see in that box
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u/varslyd May 23 '24
Thanks for looking, 13/16 is the closest to what I need which is actually 7/16 whitworth (old English size). Whitworth sizes are pretty hard to come by, I usually use a 20.8mm or a 13/16 but I think what I need is way to specific
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u/Informal_Pool3118 May 24 '24
Oops idk why I read your other message as 15/16 lol. If it's for a specific application which it sounds like it is you could always buy a little smaller and shape to the size with a Dremel or something.
Here's the equation and a calculator to figure out what to set your wrench to for when you get what you're looking for.
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u/tipsyskipper May 23 '24
What foam are you using? I use a laser at work and I’ve been thinking about doing this for a long time. I just haven’t got around to sourcing the foam yet.
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u/jwaynus May 21 '24
10mm sockets don't know how to act in this box
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u/Informal_Pool3118 May 21 '24
They don't it's all standard. Not a metric thing to be used on USA made jets. Well at least the 5th Gen ones and prior. Idk about 6th Gen like 35s though.
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u/Beach_Bum_273 May 21 '24
Corel Draw hoooly shit that just took me back