Difficulty reading socket sizes

[daviddowns2000]

The size markings on my standard sockets are getting harder for me to read as I get older and more presbyopic. The new Craftsman laser-etched, easy-to-read sockets are very nice, but I don't like the idea of spending the $ to replace all of my perfectly good sockets. A Google search turned up these labels:

https://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Eye-Saver-FOIL-SOC...7QQcmdZViewItem

Don't know if they will hold up under use, but for $3.50 and free shipping I figured they were worth a shot. Looks like there are enough extra labels that I can cut and splice together labels for larger sizes.

Anybody have any other suggestions for marking sizes on sockets to make them easier to read?

 

[JimLor]

Sweet! Yeah, I'm at that age where the small obscure markings on sockets is somehow invisible without glasses. Don't think I'll buy a new set, but if I need any I'll keep these in mind. Thanks.

 

[Geezer]

How about using a permanent marker right on the metal socket? You can get markers made to write on smooth surfaces like plastic and metal. Use a different color for standard and metric, or maybe different colors for drive size.

 

[Bounce]

I just store mine thusly:

https://tinyurl.com/gwqk8

 

[zzkenoman]

I bought the new tool set with super large laser etchings by craftsman about a year ago, and keep my other tools as backup if I lose a socket in the grass. It was on sale for $99 during the holiday sales for a 122 piece set.

 

[v65]

I have those labels, they are pretty sturdy. I do not have them on the sockets though, so I cannot say for sure how they will hold up. I made a storage system similar to what bounce linked to and used these labels on it. Works great for me, but you still have to see the sockets to put them back in the right spot. Crap, I think I just talked myself out of offering something useful - business as usual.

 

[FlyingLow]

Reading glasses work for me. I went from being near-sighted to far-sighted. Besides sockets I can now once again read maps, books, newspapers, plus see up close what I'm wrenching on.

 

[madmike2]

Reading glasses work for me. I went from being near-sighted to far-sighted. Besides sockets I can now once again read maps, books, newspapers, plus see up close what I'm wrenching on.

Or you could go here. They'll protect your eyes from loose bits when our working on your bike. I have tinted and clear and I use them when riding...helps me see the GPS and other electronics. They also have other interesting things, like ear plugs.

 

[daviddowns2000]

Thanks for all the replies. Using a socket rack as Bounce suggested does help. However, as V65 said, you still have a problem when you have a bunch of them off the rack although you can usually just rearrange them by size. I have a few of the flat metal strip racks where you clip the sockets into their drive holes. These have a couple of minor advantages over the kind Bounce showed in that you can also use them for things that cannot slip over the posts, like allen head sockets, reducers, etc. and you don't have to worry about it tipping over and spilling them off the rack. Sometimes I can take the whole strip and match up the socket to the nut before taking any sockets off the rack. Also, they store well in my toolbox and I need to have portability.

I tried a Sharpie marking pen but they seem to rub off quickly. Reading glasses help, but most of the wrenching I do seems to be out of the reading range as well as the distance range of my bifocals. Even with glasses, the markings on the Craftsman sockets are hard to see in some light conditions.

If the foil labels don't work out, I'll just bite the bullet as ZZKenoman did and buy the etched sockets. A complete metric set (sockets only), bought individually at regular price, from 5.5mm through 36mm would only cost a little over $100, although $3.50 for the foil labels sounds better if they do the trick, just depends on how well they hold up.