The Tekton pliers rack seems like a convenient way to organize and store pliers. I posted about the pliers rack previously, and decided to try it for myself.
The organizer is designed to be used inside tool drawers, and features ABS plastic dividers and a soft grippy rubber base made from TPE (thermoplastic elastomer).
I grabbed a bunch of pliers from my office and electronics workstation, to see how they would fit.
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All but one of the pliers, NWS cutters with thicker than average handle grips, fit the Tekton pliers rack comfortable.
Smaller NWS pliers fit the rack, but just barely.
The rack seems to be well-made, and time will tell how well it holds up.
The rack measures 10″ long, 3.7″ wide, 2.7″ tall, and 0.88″ between dividers.
You shouldn’t have any trouble storing most types of pliers vertically. Pliers with spring-action handles might not be perfectly compatible – one of my precision pliers could cause a drawer clearance issue.
It seems that the the pliers rack was designed to fit 3″ tool drawers.
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At the moment, most of my pliers are in shallow 2″ and 2.5″ drawers. Although the rack is designed for use in tool box drawers, I might keep mine on a workbench or in a tool cart for holding pliers needed for particular projects.
It seems possible to cut the rack into two smaller ones, but you’d lose one of the 10 slots in doing so.
The rack is a bit pricey, but feels like it will last. Bent wire racks are cheaper, but I never found them to be appealing.
There are some limitations – the rack won’t hold pliers thicker than ~7/8″, at least not without stress-bending the dividers – but it should hold most common brands and styles.
I’m not exactly using the Tekton pliers rack in the manner it was intended I’m currently using it on my benchtop to save space and reduce sprawl when working on more complex projects. But, I also tested it in a rolling tool cabinet and was satisfied with how stable it was when opening and closing the drawer.
I have also found myself using it for holding other types of tools, such as a small utility knife, trim square, and hex key set. It also holds my smartphone.
While sold as a pliers organizer rack, it can hold a lot more.
I’m pleased with my purchase. It took me a while to talk myself into buying one, mainly due to the price, but I’m glad I did.
Price: $17
The rack is made in the USA.
My test sample was purchased at retail.
If you want a different color, Ernst (likely the OEM for Tekton) has a similar rack in hi-viz yellow.
A W
I bought two after your previous post and they’ve done really well at keeping my pliers stable and organized in a drawer (Lowe’s Craftsman) that has some wobble to it.
AL
I got two of the Ernst in hi-vis yellow. Nice and bright!
Curtis Hibbs
Here’s a similar rack made from coated wire, I might like this one better:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WLJJMS5
GNew
I made my own like this. Redid a closest, took the wire shelf I removed, made a jig with a bit of plywood, and bent to shape. Works well, cost me nothing in the end.
Stuart
Bent wire pliers racks are cheaper, but I never found them appealing.
mattd
I got a bunch of these from harbor freight for $7 back when they were $9.99 and they had the 30% of anything under $10 coupon. I like them and they work fine for my needs.
King duck
I like plyworx model better it gives you an option to stand the vertical
GML
Agreed, I have this one mounted on pegboard above my workbench.
Matt S
For nearly the same price, GearWrench has an adjustable rack that can hold wider or narrower pliers – or fewer if you remove dividers. I have the same rack branded Olsa that doesn’t appear to be available anymore and have been very happy with it. See here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QZCTGQT
Graham Howe
Seeing that one, I’m now inspired to make something similar out of wood. If I had a 3D printer it would be even easier. This seems like the perfect little project to use up a few scraps.
Adam
This is what I own, and love it.
Matt the Hoople
Been eyeballing the US General one at Harbor Freight. Couple bucks less and has 15 slots. Since I have about 50 pairs of pliers, I’ve been reluctant to pull the trigger on racks as I need about $60 to $80 worth.
https://www.harborfreight.com/15-compartment-adjustable-plier-rack-56399.html
David
I too purchased the Gear Wrench racks. Two 44″ drawers, front and back of each drawer. They can be cut to length with a hack saw to make them fit your drawer. I had some of the Olsa racks as they were what I believed to be the nicest available anywhere, they were also more expensive than the GW. The GW are made of plastic while the Olsa were aluminum, and both were adjustable which I feel is a very nice feature as all pliers are not crated equally. I needed more of the Olsa racks to do another drawer and found they are/were discontinued so I had to redo everything! Olsa is dead to me because of this. Never, ever will I purchase anything they put their name on again!
David
Here’s the link to the Olsa racks so you can see how nice they WERE!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074TJ1BZM/
I really had intended to add my comments to Matt S.’s post. Sorry!
David
Another point.
If you have a lot of narrow or wide pliers, you can add, subtract dividers and move them to other racks. I actually bought two extra racks to strip them for the extra dividers I needed.
Eric
Same here, I started with a couple of the Olsa adjustable racks. Then they were no longer available when I was ready to buy more. So the rest of my drawer is filled out with the gearwrench version.
Joe E.
I might try this one. I’m currently using the Lisle Made in USA plier organizer and it has been fantastic, but it’s a tight fight for some of the wider handles on the old Craftsman USA/Western Forge pliers.
LJH
I have two. I love them but the spring handles don’t work unless you can tie them shut.
Jared
I use Nite ize Gear Ties on some of my spring-loaded pliers.
The gear ties are reusable and a quick twist puts them on or takes them off. It’s still an extra step of course. I might just DIY a rack with a top someday – but that’s a simple solution for now.
John
This style is always too tall for my plier drawers. I use the wire style instead for a low profile.
Ken
I ended up 3D printing some organizers for the same reason. My little HF box just doesn’t quite have the drawer depth I need.
Kerry
Can you post a few pictures and location of where yoi got the print file.
Flotsam
a well organized plier drawer is a thing of joy
i have wire based one and the benefit is that it can be slightly tweaked if needed as the wire can be easily bent to accommodate a slightly larger handle.
I even made some of my own out of an old dish rack and that one is customized for a slightly different set of pliers.
you can never maximize a drawer as well if the pliers are just piled in and those outlined foam cutout drawers are pretty but i have like 4x the number of pliers as that
Chris
I think you meant 10″ long/wide.
Stuart
Sorry, *fixed*, thank you!
MM
Reminds me of those plastic letter organizers people used to use in offices before computers got big, only in red color and substantially more expensive.
I have to say that I like the fact that Tekton pays attention to tool organization though, I don’t intend to knock the company. Not only do they have the common things like socket and wrench organizers but they have things that are less common too, like racks for crowfoot wrenches.
frobo
I bought a couple of the HF adjustable ones, and I kind of like them because they allow me to space the dividers to match the width of the plier grips. The only problem with them is that the dividers don’t stay in place, which means that I often have to readjust them when I want to put a tool back. I might try to glue them in place someday when I finally get fed up enough.
AL
I have one…hate that they move all the time. Spend so much time re-adjusting that it’s not worth it to save 1/8″.
Nathan
I’ve looked at this for a while and wondered if I’d really use that effectively but I have to say I never thought about putting one on the workbench just to whole and contain whatever I’m using that moment. so now I have to buy 2 it seems. Might do one and cut it in half. eitherway.
Dave the tool
Decisions, decisions. I have my 6 widely used pliers, cutters hanging on a metal peg board hole rack mounted to my module bench. Has worked great since day one. However in my main toolbox I have a vast assortment of pliers piled in there. Yes, I have to dig for the pliers I need in the drawer but as mentioned the 6 most popular are hanging on the pegboard so it hasn’t bothered me too much.
These organizers just don’t appeal to me as many have stated you need deep drawers and f you needed 4 or more of these your would also need extra long drawers. Could be wrong but they just don’t jump out enough for me to order a set.
schill
I have the Ernst version on a narrow shelf just above my workbench. It works well except for a few pairs of pliers that don’t fit well. Due to the location, I keep the handles toward the wall to make them easier to identify and so that they balance better.
I should get another one – there are more pliers and cutters lying next to it on the shelf.
Dustysa4
I’ve been using this about a year maybe. I like it, but sometimes the pliers slide out of the hump, stick up, and jam my drawer. Lol. No biggie, I’ve just been up lazy to turn the organizer sideways.
MikeIt
I made a pliers rack out of a wire dish drainer rack. I cut out the bottom portion with the angled supports for the plates and put my pliers in there instead. They are slightly angled so my taller pliers have a little more room to clear the drawer. It was less than $10 and I used the utensil tray as a desk organizer as a bonus. I later discovered the Tool Sorter (https://toolsorter.net/) organizers. They work great, I bought two of them and still use my dish rack organizer. The pliers organizer have slots of different fixed widths so just be aware of that. I like their products very much and bought their wrench and screwdriver organizers too. They are also made in the USA. You can find them at the usual places Amazon, Ebay etc.
PW
I have two of these, and like them a lot. The shape and grippy bottom do a good job of holding most of my 5-10″ pliers. They happen to fit my tool chest well – if you have the ubiquitous harbor freight 5 drawer cart they almost exactly fit the half width deep drawer.
Alex Peel
I bought 4 of the Ernst after the last post. They are amazing and now I have a well organized plier/adjustable wrench drawer.