I have seen all kinds of pliers organizer racks before, but this might be the first one I actually buy. This one is by Tekton, and it appears to be made in the USA by Ernst.
The Tekton pliers organizer rack has 10 slots, and measures 10″ wide with dividers 2.7″ tall and 3.7″ deep.
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The pliers rack is made from ABS plastic, which should be tough but not brittle, and also easy to clean.
The base is made from a soft and grippy rubber material, to help ensure that your tools won’t slide around as you open and close your tool box drawers. Potentially, this could help the organizer rack from sliding around your drawer, and also your pliers from sliding around in the rack.
Here’s one of Ernst’s pliers racks, in high-visibility yellow. They also have a red pliers organizer that looks identical to Tekton’s.
Ernst is a well-regarded name in the tool and parts organizational accessory industry, and they often produce products for other brand labels as well as their own.
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At the time of this posting, the Tekton organizer rack is less expensive.
Price: $15 for Tekton, $16-17 for Ernst
Buy Now: Tekton via Amazon
Buy Now: Ernst via Amazon
Discussion
Yes, you could cut up wire shelving and bend it into a pliers rack.
Or, you could do as I and toss them into a drawer. I like to have pliers flat in shallow tool box drawers, but not in deeper drawers as this can waste space. But, I think that this could be a very effective way to neatly and compactly store pliers in a tool box drawer ~3″ deep or slightly shallower.
One thing to keep in mind is that the pliers rack is 2.7″ tall. Depending on the pliers you place in it, you might need tool box drawers that are deeper than 3″.
This looks to be a very handy way to organize one’s tool box, save drawer space, or both.
Both the Tekton and Ernst-branded pliers racks are made in the USA.
See Also
Here’s another pliers rack that I discovered a few years ago:
Bruce
I’ve currently got two wire racks that I’m unhappy with. I’ll give these a shot. My big complaint is really about my tools. Some of the pliers have spring loaded opening without a hold down, they tend to not want to stand up in the rack. The rack also isn’t well matched width wise to my tool handles.
This might be a better solution.
Argie
I understand your plight. I also have the wire racks in my box. A couple of my most commonly used pliers found a home next to the racks because the handles are too wide.
With the spring loaded ones I threw a rubber band around them thinking it would be fine since they don’t see a ton of use but it ends up being more of a pain than its worth -Losing the rubber band — and — just not being able to grab and go on them.
David
I’m debating if something like these make sense for my secondary work spaces.
I wanted greater visibility for which tool I’m grabbing in my main shop, so went with a vertical tool rail approach that hangs from my French cleat wall. I highly recommend that as an option for folks who want visibility and relatively high density of storage while accommodating a large variety of sizes and designs.
With that said, a few types of pliers-style tools don’t work well with it, particularly vise grips and similar tools that have more complex handles that don’t let you hang them on a bar. I tend to use a French cleat mounted magnet for those.
Scott K
I lock my vise grips closed and hang them on my pegboard by sliding one of the hangers that sticks straight off the wall through the opening in the jaws (like threading a needle).
Clay
Same for my locking ones.
The non-locking ones just have one handle through one of the ring hangers.
Mike47
Ditto. Pegboard hooks in sheet-metal pegboard works for me.
Nick
I have 2 of these that I’ve used in my main tool box for 2-3 years now. I’m big fan. I’m a little OCD about my tool organization. I used to have my pliers laying flat in some of the shallower drawers. It was a disorganized mess. I managed to get them all into these in one of the deeper drawers and free up a ton of space overall. More importantly, there’s a space for each one so when I take one out, I know where it goes. Wire stuff works too, I’m sure…but it’s not like these are super pricey.
Hilton
I went ahead and bought three of those wire versions but I’m not that happy. I think these would be better overall.
Josh
I have an old wire cd rack i use from a yard sale. Cut it in half to make 2 racks that fit and clipped a wire or 2 from it for wider pliers and snips. It works good but the pliers catch the rack on occasion. For 50 cents it’s tough to beat. Maybe one day I will give them a try. They would solve the snagging issue but I would probably need 3 racks to fit everything and at the moment my box is not big enough
Patrick
I have one of these and it really cleaned up an area of my work bench. I’m limited on wall space and lay-flat is a waste of drawer space. I’ll grab another the next time I make a Tekton order to see if I can get some more less-used stuff off of the wall.
Tom
I use this rack that I found on Amazon. It fits in a drawer fairly well.
https://www.amazon.com/Plyworx-PLR15-Organize-Your-Pliers/dp/B01MTYNUTP/
Stuart
Great find! That’s the same brand as I link to at the end of the post, but with solid dividers instead of wire. Looks perfect for mounting to pegboard or a vertical surface.
schill
I might have to try one of those. My concern (based on my usage) is the varying, but fixed, sizes of the compartments. I use a couple Ernst racks now that I’m pretty happy with. The constant width compartments allow me to group by “head” type so that similar pliers with different handle sizes can be together. (There is just enough room in the Ernst rack for the larger NWS handles.)
But I like the vertical nature of this rack and I think I’ll try one. I have some plier overflow right now that I need to do something about.
Bill
Been using Pliers II rack for a while to organize pliers. Mounted on page board…it comes with peg board rivets. Slots are different sizes so organizing vice grips, spring loaded handles or more than one large handled pair together does not always work. However, great space saver, easy to use, durable material, fits 90% of my pliers. Hoping for a two tier version in future or a version holding 20 pairs of pliers tools. Recommend to those seeking organization of those work area. This is the device for it.
Albert Collins
I finally settled on this version. I like being able to adjust the slots.
GEARWRENCH Adjustable Plier Rack – 83129
Stuart
Amazon link for reference: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QZCTGQT/?tag=toolguyd-20
Julian Tracy
That’d be super cool, I’d have to keep my pliers in a 4” deep tool drawer instead of a 2” drawer they currently reside in lol
Jared
A little expensive, but nice. If they put magnets in the bottom to hold it onto the drawer I think it would be perfect.
I’ve looked at Ernst version several times, but never pulled the trigger because I would need at least four to organize my main pliers drawer in my toolbox. Starts to add up – and they are more expensive in Canada.
I have a wire-rack plies organizer I bought for $6 a few years ago that honestly works pretty well. I remember the price specifically because I was researching retail options and experimenting with DIY solutions trying to find a method of organizing my pliers that I liked, when I stumbled across it. It also holds the pliers on edge. It was wider than my drawer but easy to trim.
It was at a Princess Auto store in Canada (think of a slightly nicer Harbour Freight) – but I have never seen it there again since.
My only significant grip was that the whole thing would slide sometimes when I closed the drawer abruptly – but I later reversed the orientation so the rack was against the back wall. I would like it even better though if I could rivet it or otherwise secure it to my drawer.
Adam
This looks like a great option for “densification” of pliers storage. I think I’ll make up something custom on the 3D printer using a similar orientation to fit my various pliers that don’t already have good “homes.”
And I’ll definitely leave some holes on the bottom for a few small neodymium magnets–great idea, Jared.
Koko The Talking Ape
I’ve gotten a little reluctant to buy more plastic. It’s not a hard and fast rule, it’s just a consideration alongside price, function, etc.
It wouldn’t be hard to make something like this really quickly out of masonite and scrap lumber. Cheaper too.
Jim Felt
If my memory serves “Ernst” has evolved from a small local model railroad dohickie manufacturer into a significant entity. Always with the same ideal of ingenuity and Made in the USA.
PeterR
I have the Pliers Rack II, the wire one with a metal case. I love it. I need my pliers in front of me, not in a drawer. I do a lot of small electronics and cable design – the Rack sits right in front of me at arms length, with all my electronic pliers, snips, dykes, etc., even some Knipex small adjustables. I hate having small pliers on finicky pegboard holders, etc.
schill
In both locations where I use the Ernst racks, they are on shelves right above the work surface and not in drawers. A mix of smaller pliers for electronics and smaller mechanical work and full size pliers. And some small wrenches as well. And maybe a stack of additional pliers next to the rack. 🙂
Lamar
I cut out the shapes in Kazien Foam to put mine in a drawer but this looks like a good solution for a secondary location. Still looking for a good way to store sockets and wrenches.
Mick
There’s a local glass company near where I live. They have a “scrap” barrel to put the excess acrylic odds and ends for $2 each. I grabbed the larger pieces, cut to a determined size, gently heated and bend it into and “A” frame similar to the picture but more bench top size. The problem here is when reading ToolGuyd, I end up with more pliers than space. Soooo, time to whip up another rack.
https://clearlyhelena.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/pliers-rack-004.jpg
TonyT
I did some quick searching on Thingiverse and PrusaPrinters; here are the pliers rack designs I found most interesting:
ICTAvatar Modular Desktop stand (vertical; also on PrusaPrinters)
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2495885
la_mecanique Infinite Pliers Stand (horizontal, a bit like the Tekton)
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2495885
WoodyInMD Pliers Rack (also a bit like the Tekton)
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3744491
WST Wall Mount Pliers Rack
https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/9040-wall-mount-pliers
Wilfred Desktop Pliers Stand (vertical, no slots)
https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/4162-plier-stand
So some interesting 3D printed options.
Adam
TonyT, I’m curious what the second link was supposed to be–it’s a copy of the first right now, and Search on Thingiverse is hit-or-miss.
Thanks!
Tom D
Maybe this: https://cubicle23.com/2019/05/22/storage-for-pliers/
Adam
Thanks, that looks to be the one (referencing https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2690951 ).
TonyT
Yes, that’s the one
My apologies for the wrong cut and paste
Bryan
I’d like to try it but my deeper drawers are all taken. My shallow drawers are 2.5” deep and that won’t work.
J. Newell
I’m using a set of four to organize a drawer. I tried several others, including some wire versions, and am really happy with these.
Is there a way to post a pic?
Tom D
You have to host it elsewhere (Imgur may work) and link it here.
Dave
I chuck my pliers willy-nilly in my shallowest drawers. I’m not ‘wasting’ a deeper drawer on them so they can stand on edge.
Sashko Bobolinski
I made this for my tool box, and love it. A little bit of effort, but not overboard, and fits my pliers and no wasted space
https://www.instructables.com/Pliers-Organizer/