Improvement of peg board hook retention

[Slik Geek]

I know some of you despise peg boards. I make heavy use of them in my shop. I have gobs of pegboard surfaces on my shop walls. Probably one of the reasons for the dislike of pegboards is how sometimes the hook pulls out when you remove the item hanging from the hook. I just tried a solution to address that issue. (I've seen some solutions advertised, but they are usually awfully expensive).

What I did was purchase some "undersized" flexible vinyl round caps to slip on the lower pin of the pegboard hook. The lower pin is the straight rod which isn't positively retained in the peg board, unlike the upper pin which has a right angle bend. I bought undersized caps so that they would stretch when applied, reducing the wall thickness of the vinyl so that the peg will still fit into the hole.

I tried it out and it does the job with little effort and expense. The caps that I found were 1/2" long, but I only slip the cap about 3/16" onto the pin. Any further onto the pin and there is too much interference with the hole. It is still a tight fit, but that is the idea (to provide a friction fit on the pin to keep it in the peg board).

Not including shipping cost, this improvement cost me 3 cents per peg. (I added this item onto an order for other items so the shipping was effectively "free"). The size vinyl cap I purchased is listed as "fits 1/8”-3/16” OD", and came in a pack of 100. The actual parts I purchased were from McMaster Carr, item # 9753K31.

[LCHIEN]

Are you using the HD hooks in the heavy pegboard or the standard pegs in the thinner pegboard. How about a picture of how it fits?

[JoeyGee]

Sounds like a good solution. If you need to move a peg, do the caps stay on the peg, or do they get pulled off and drop behind the peg board?

[Slik Geek]

Are you using the HD hooks in the heavy pegboard or the standard pegs in the thinner pegboard.

Sorry, should have been more specific: I'm using the heavy duty hooks. Will snap a photo and post.

[Slik Geek]

Sounds like a good solution. If you need to move a peg, do the caps stay on the peg, or do they get pulled off and drop behind the peg board?

Excellent question. I ended up moving a couple of hooks and the answer varies. Sometimes the cap came out with the hook (stayed in place), other times it dropped behind. In my situation, there is a gap below the pegboard (and entirely along the way down to the bottom behind the pegboard), so the cap was accessible to use again. [My pegboard mounting scheme uses large nuts to mount and space the pegboard off of the wall. I believe that I used 1/2' screw size nuts. The only obstruction behind my peg board is where I installed a mounting screw].

Now, any time I grab something from a hook that doesn't retain well I think, "Oh yeah, that one has been annoying - time to upgrade it!"

[radhak]

Really need to see a pic of this. For the usefulness of a pegboard, it's a huge annoyance the way the pegs come off regularly. Any such solution would be welcome.

[leehljp]

Really need to see a pic of this. For the usefulness of a pegboard, it's a huge annoyance the way the pegs come off regularly. Any such solution would be welcome.

Someone here suggested to me to hot melt glue the pegs on - for the ones that come off. I have the thick peg board and the thick pegs in general, although I do have some smaller pegs. The Hot Melt did the job and it also allowed me the opportunity to purchase a "Good" glue gun. I have a peg with the glue gun's name on it so I can find it at will!

[Slik Geek]

As requested, here are photos to help the illustration. I considered using adhesive (as Lee suggested), but thought the caps would be more convenient and consistent. I'm loving the peg retention upgrade. Each day I grab a tool and realize that a hook needs this fix. Most are fine, but levels, pry bars, and metal rules always seemed to pull the hook out of the board. But not any more...

[Slik Geek]

You'll note in the photo that I posted previously that I've revised the installation depth of the vinyl cap. It is only about 3/32" onto the hook. Any more and the hook becomes difficult or impossible to install. Less and the cap will extract itself from the hook. Installation takes some pressure and a few seconds of effort. As the lower pin moves into the hole (with the applied pressure), the cap slides onto the pin further, effectively stopping in the pegboard as the hook's pin continues its penetration. If the cap was installed deeper initially, it would interfere with the insertion too much. That is the essence of the challenge - you need interference to retain, but too much you can't install. The 3/32" depth seems to be the ideal depth.
One additional tip: I roll the cap opening end between my thumb and finger several times to 'loosen it up'. This helps it stretch onto the pin more easily.

[leehljp]

The secret of being satisfied with peg board - for me - was the layout. I initially had a layout that wasn't very efficient for my usage; Add in the pegs falling off and it made me hate the peg board system. Then I re-arranged the tool layout. After the re-arranging, I had hooks come loose and used peg board locks/clips, which were not the best. This drove me to use hot melt glue.

There are places that I could have used the tips like Slik Geek and they would have done well. Thanks for the idea!

[tfischer]

I've had OK luck with the pegboard clips. I rarely have a hook come off that uses one of these locks.

[Slik Geek]

I've had OK luck with the pegboard clips.

I considered the clips that I have seen for sale, but they were awfully expensive - approaching $2 per clip! That's what got me searching for an inexpensive alternative since I have a whole bunch of pegboard hooks in use.

[tfischer]

I considered the clips that I have seen for sale, but they were awfully expensive - approaching $2 per clip! That's what got me searching for an inexpensive alternative since I have a whole bunch of pegboard hooks in use.

Wow I sure wouldn't pay that much. Mine came with a couple "starter kits" I bought over the years.


Here they are... 25 for $6.50: https://www.amazon.com/Lehigh-Group-...high+peg+locks