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A Great Source for Sortimo Organizers and Tool Storage!

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Sortimo T-Boxx

I’ve used Sortimo-made Bosch L-Boxxes for years, but have always wanted to try Sortimo’s pricier but more versatile T-Boxx parts organizers.

The sole Sortimo distributor in the USA had been impossible to get ahold of, but this past August I had the idea to buy a bunch from the UK.

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I had ordered my Sortimo T-Boxxes from Amazon UK, along with some other stuff, and things turned out well. The organizers were perfectly intact.

Soon after that, or perhaps shortly before, Sortimo US launched a website and news started spreading that Sortimo products were becoming much easier to buy in the USA.

I saved a bunch of money ordering from Amazon UK, but the price difference is not huge. If there’s a reliable USA source, I’d rather buy from there. That way, if there’s a product issue, I don’t have to start thinking about how to get a return back across the Atlantic.

Requesting a quote from the Sortimo by Knapheide site sucked. And I meant that in the most polite way possible. I guess they sent my inquiry to a local or regional distributor, but that distributor was just not good.

I remember waiting days for a simple quote on one part, and then when I had a question I received an unsatisfactory answer. They had given me a price quote on one component, a 2-level T-Boxx 322, then said they didn’t have access to it. I said they already gave me a quote, and he then asked me what a T-Boxx 322 is.

It just seemed slow, clunky, and not at all reassuring to work with this vendor.

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So… yea… the “request a quote” process from Knapheide was not very warm and fuzzy.

BUT, there was another source. Well, 2 more sources. You could order directly from the Sortimo US site, but they didn’t have other things I wanted, such as T-Boxx and L-Boxx mounting rails.

In the comments of the post where I discuss my Amazon UK Sortimo purchase, a reader mentioned Inlad, a Milwaukee-based distributor. Dan Shelhamer, a VP at Inlad, found the post and left a comment with his email address.

I don’t normally allow distributors, sellers, brands, or other parties to leave self-promoting comments, but Dan’s seemed to have fallen into a grey area. I felt like his posts were more helpful to readers – and myself – than not, so I left them alone.

I emailed Dan, looking to buy the same Sortimo stuff – T-Boxxes and accessories – that I had tried going through Knapheide for.

Now, I’m a “click and buy” type of guy that would rather place an order through the web than over the phone. It’s how I’ve made nearly all of my adult-life purchases that wasn’t done at a brick and mortar store.

Ordering by phone tends to be slow and generally clunky.

However, the reason for this post is to tell you that I have had FANTASTIC EXPERIENCES with Dan and Inlad.

Back in late August, I placed an order through Dan after a couple of back and forth emails. Dan helped me identify T-Boxx (and L-Boxx) mounting rails, which I couldn’t dig up anywhere. The model number is SS4, and these are blue plastic rails that are mounted within a cabinet cavity to hold Sortimo T-Boxxes and L-Boxxes.

If he didn’t know the answer to a question, he connected with Sortimo, and quite quickly.

I sent an email at 9:15pm one day, and he replied at 9:46am that he doesn’t know the answer but would check with Sortimo, and by 10:14am he had detailed answers.

Unlike the other distributor rep that reached out to me, I felt like Dan actually understood what he was talking about. I asked some tough questions, and he got back to me with detailed, competent, and helpful answers. That’s important, because Sortimo products aren’t cheap, and I needed help determining what would be best for my needs.

That order arrived in great condition, although my 2-level T-boxxes weren’t wrapped in the same shrink wrap as the normal 1-level boxes. Nothing a quick wipe-down couldn’t fix.

I recently contacted Dan at Inlad about placing another order. I wanted more 2-level T-Boxxes, and he told me they would have a few in-stock in mid-January.

He drew up a quote, I gave the thumbs-up, and he called me yesterday to supply a credit card number for the invoice payment.

But there’s a hiccup. Sortimo US doesn’t have the blue boxes for the bottom levels of the 2-level T-boxxes. (Ah, so they do build them here – that’s why they came unwrapped last time. But when I asked about a custom configuration I saw in a European catalog I was told that Sortimo only carried the 2-level T-Boxxes in a different now-standard configuration.)

But, instead of waiting for a shipment of blue boxes (2×2 size), they could instead popular the bottom levels with 1×1 and 1×2 boxes, same as the top levels.

With my first purchase I had ordered a case of 1×1 (red) boxes for my 2-level T-Boxxes, and had actually wanted 1×1 and 1×2 boxes instead of those 2×2 blue ones.

So… yay! The change sounded favorable to me, and wouldn’t take any additional time since they had the red and yellow bins in stock.

Keeping in mind that I generally strongly prefer to order tools and supplies over the web, I have been pleasantly surprised at how easy it has been to work with Dan and Inlad.

My orders weren’t small, but they weren’t large, or at least not anywhere as large as someone who was outfitting a van. Both were for a couple of T-Boxxes and some mounting accessories.

I’m crossing my fingers that my current order is delivered without a hitch, but am fairly confident.

I can’t tell you where you should buy your Sortimo gear, but I can tell you that I’ve had a great experience with Dan and Inlad. Here’s his contact info:

Dan Shelhamer: [email protected]

Inlad Sortimo Listings

I ordered stuff that wasn’t on the Inlad website, or Sortimo US’s. You can order [almost?] anything you can find in a Sortimo catalog (PDF), although it might take time for it to arrive from Europe.

There was one thing I wanted but wasn’t available when I placed my order in August – the tray insert that splits a T-Boxx into 2 levels for use with shallower bins, part 51018024. Dan was told by Sortimo US that they don’t sell it separately, or the STB 320 empty T-Boxx case. You can find the empty T-Boxx case on the Sortimo US website, in black, but not white.

They had the 2-level cases in stock, and red 1×1 boxes for me to customize them to my liking, so I went that way.

So don’t take the “you can order anything you can find in a Sortimo catalog” part as an absolute. Maybe if I pressed I could have gotten the inserts separately, but I wasn’t up for being a nuisance.

Sortimo organizers are pricey, but so far I’m liking them a lot more than any of the small parts and bin organizers I’ve used in the past. It’ll take me more time to get everything nice and neat, but once I’m halfway there I’ll take some photos to share with you.

Last note: There have been some requests for a review of the Workmo storage boxes and accessory system, but I’ve yet to pull the trigger. I’ll reconsider again if there are more requests.

If you order through Dan at Inlad – also known as U.S. Upfitters of Wisconsin – please share your experience!

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31 Comments

  1. Can you use the SS4 T-boxx slides in custom made cabinets, or are they obnoxiously proprietary? I’d love to use those and build cabinets to hold my l and t boxes

    Reply

  2. I just spent some time sifting through the pdf catalog, and the only storage cabinet that I can find for the T-boxx is a mini-block on pdf page 12. Nowhere in that reference can I find anything that resembles the storage cabinet shown in Adam Savages video for all of his T-boxxes. The lack of visible and variable storage solutions for the T system in the catalog is somewhat bothersome. On pdf page 15, there is a picture that shows a support rail, but I was unable to find any reference to a part/order number, or if these could be used outside of the Sortimo system itself.

    If I could order enough support rails that I could mount in a custom cabinet, along with the number of T-boxx’ I might need, I would be happy with an attempt at ordering a batch. There does not seem to be enough information to do so however.

    Reply

    • I’ve looked into this too. Adam doesn’t say where he got them from, and my very extensive searching led me to conclude it was a van racking setup, perhaps custom.

      It might be a discontinued model, because I didn’t see the exact configuration or anything quite like it in the catalog.

      I figured Dan or someone else at Inlad (or another dealer) would be able to help configure something similar, but it won’t be inexpensive.

      Plus, it would be designed for van mounting. I’d want to add a stable base for casters or feet, maybe rear stabilization too, if wanting to use it freestanding.

      Everything I’ve seen led me to conclude that Adam’s setup is not an off the shelf option.

      But the side rails in his racks appear to be SS4, or something extremely similar.

      The WorkMo supports seem to be something different.

      The SS4 are designed to be used with metric fasteners to attach them to Sortimo sheet metal racking sides, but can be used with standard hardware. They have flat sides, so they sit flush.

      I’m still trying to get through dimensions right. Too narrow a cabinet and there’s friction.

      Reply

  3. Stuart, can you post some pictures of these slides and 2 level organizers?

    Reply

  4. Funny this should come up. We’re in the process of buying two new Ford Transit vans for HVAC install and we’re outfitting them in the Sortimo products from the Inlad here in Maryland. I’m going to be heading on over there to get a custom configuration for the racks and Boxxes.

    Reply

  5. So Stuart now that you have been using them for a while which insert sizes are you finding the most useful? Wondering if the 1″ are going to be useful or to small for most usage.

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    • Useful depends entirely on what size things you’re storing. I do a lot of work with smaller pop rivets, and the red 1×1 bins are awesome for everything but the longer rivets that need the yellow 1x2s. The orange 1x4s work pretty well for longer bolts and screws. I don’t get as much use out of the 2×2 and 2×4 bins, although they are a decent size for holding stray tools that need to ride in my parts organizer for a bit

      Reply

    • It’s really all over the place, and as Josh mentioned the bin selection is dependent on what you want to store in them.

      I want more 2-level Sortimo T-Boxxes because that’ll cut down on wasted space for storing small components.

      Just to clarify, the 1×1 bins are around 2″x 2″. I call them 1×1 because the red bins are the smallest size, with all the others being related dimension-wise.

      The regular full-size bins are around 2-3/8″ deep. The shallow ones in the 2-level T-Boxxes are around 1-1/8″ tall. That changes things and offers completely different possibilities.

      I tend to strongly prefer shallow storage over deep, but I do have use for deep bins.

      If you plan to buy several units, perhaps start with the “H Standard” model, shown above. It has a variety of all the different types of bin sizes available. The “E3 Various” model has the 4 most popular sizes, leaving out the large green and long narrow orange boxes.

      I’ve had experience with Sortimo bins from my many L-Boxx-1A purchases (they were often less expensive than those the L-Boxx-1’s that ship without bins).

      I also ordered many plastic bins from Schaller Corp – more here: https://toolguyd.com/small-tool-parts-drawer-organization/ – and saw advantages to using shallow bins for certain tools and parts.

      I use the 1″ and 2″ deep boxes the most, 3″ is just too deep for most of my needs.

      Reply

  6. I use pickled herring jars from the local supermarket (clear plastic, small, wide-mouth, unbreakable) to hold small parts. I think I would eat 200 jars of pickled herring before I went to the trouble you did to find these Sortimo things.

    Reply

    • Pickled herring’s pretty good. I’m supplementing my Sortimo with clear plastic ice cream containers with screw on lids for stuff that I buy in larger quantities, if a pint isn’t enough storage I’ll move up to other options or just leave it in the box it came in

      Reply

  7. On the topic of web purchase vs dealing with an actual person. Although I prefer web purchasing for personal use, a good distributor or sales rep is invaluable. If you have ever tried to find the proper MOLEX connector based on 3000+ pages of data sheets you’ll know why.

    Reply

    • Good point there, about Molex. When really stuck, I search out forum discussions and such, where someone else has done the hard part of finding correct part numbers.

      I’ve found some companies to excel at customer service and technical advice, others are just so, so bad.

      I found 2 part numbers for something I wanted to order from Mouser. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out the differences. After giving it a good try for a long time, I called the company. A few quick redirects and I was connected with a product manager in Canada. Turned out that 1 part was a partial assembly custom-configured for a customer, and had no business being available for others to purchase.

      I ordered some LED holders from Allied, and could not get them assembled. I did some digging. I eventually sent out some emails. A former product manager, and I say former because the business was spun off from one company to another, shared some insights with me.

      The actual manufacturing company took days to get back to me, and it turns out the part was recently updated and they put a notice out.

      But then they couldn’t tell me who they shipped the updated part to, and told me I’d have to contact authorized dealers and have them all check the date codes on their supplies.

      They of course also couldn’t sell me a few hundred parts directly.

      It took maybe 3-4 WEEKS to get things straightened out with the manufacturer, and at the end I was basically told they didn’t know who would have the correct and working parts.

      Reply

    • Is there a preferred configuration you’d have me be a guinea pig for?

      Personally, I’m curious about the drawers. The T-Boxx ones look to waste too much vertical space compared to DIY options.

      Reply

      • The WORKMO 24-500 4KS (http://www.sortimo-shop.us/product-p/1000003914.htm) is advertised as supporting only the metal cases. However, the Mini Block configurations with similar looking pull out shelves support both T and L Boxxes. I would be very interested to see if this WorkMo set-up would support those.

        If these shelves were in fact compatible, I would also be very interested to see if the slides were able to be purchased separately for use in a WorkMo 24-750.

        Reply

        • The WorkMos can be configured however you want them. Well, almost.

          http://www.sortimo-shop.us/category-s/121.htm

          The Mini Blocks are expensive.

          Around $420 for the empty MiniBlock without T-Boxzest, around $745 for the one without metal cases.

          Those slide out drawers are pricey.

          It seemed overpriced unless you want a ready to go built-in solution, and requires added investment to work outside of a van or fixed instalation setup.

          Reply

          • For those who are interested in the WorkMo… They have a promo on their webstore right now (10% OFF)

            Would love to see a WorkMo review too! I’m thinking about buying one right now

  10. Are you going to make review of yours sortimo organizers?

    Reply

  12. Thanks for writing this article. I’ve been looking for the SS4 rails and just placed an order with Inlad!

    Reply

    • You’re welcome! Maybe I should post separately about the SS4 rail. It took me a very long time to find them. They’re pricey, but work perfectly with the T-Boxxes and offer tip-out prevention.

      Reply

  13. Hey Guys,

    great advise with the sortimo boxxes. I ordered it as well, and the really have a great quality. But i didn´t order it like you did at amazon. I orderd it at sortimo directly. The nice thing ther was, i discovered a great feature they offer their customers. They have a configurator (https://www.mysortimo.co.uk/en_UK/products/van-racking/configuration) on their website where you can put in the boxxes virtually in your van. Especially for a electrician like me its great to check it if everything fits in your van. Maybe you should try this.

    Greets Daniel

    Reply

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