longears

Sorry if my post sounded like a 'rant". I do own 3 Renzetti Vises and paid good money for all of them. In my shop there are 11 Nor-vises that are used for Classes. There are Griffins that are used for people that want to "test drive them, there are several other brands. All I'm saying is that it seems as though the "smaller " companies stand firmer behind their products. Even though my Renzetti Master with all of the "bells and Whistles" is a dinosaur next to the newest model of the Nor-Vise. I still like it;just not the bullshit way the Company treats it's customers. To me Customer satisfaction should be thier #1 concern. When they have a defect they should take care of it,not find every which way to weasel out of their word. What's ever happen to honoring a persons word??? Whether it's written or spoken. This isn't a rant, just fact.

I think that the best part of this story is when I told them to send me the old jaws back and I wanted to photograph them and put them on several of the websites that I belong to to "show the guys" They freakin' ground them down and then attached a note saying that they were no longer warranteed because they were now "altered". That's total B.S.! Like I said, I bought the vise originally because I thought that I was buying the best, money was not an object, what I didn't want was piss poor customer appreaciation. I've grown to appreaciate good customer relations since that episode and see that sometimes it comes from the "little guy".

Stainless Steel .050 or .060 wire works best for me. My brushes turn out great using this stuff and they haven't rusted yet. The other wire that I use is Neutroloy 137 Premium light enamel wash .005 wire that is gold in color. It's not as strong as the stainless steel but, it will wind tighter and make a finer brush. I don't think that the fish will bite through it very well as it gets doubled when you make your brushes. It's for this reason I would stick to the thinnest wire that you can find. Good luck and feel free to emaoil me if you have any questions Randy

They charged me the shipping to send the jaws back to them, They charged me (I'll have to dig out the receipt) to look at the jaws to tell me that it was not a tempering problem, then they said that I was tying too big of hooks in it. I asked how big was too big? They said 6/0. I said that thety advertise the salt water master up to 10/0 and the largest hook that I tye is a 4/0. They they gave me some other line of bullshit. Then I asked about the "lifetime warranty" , That's when Lily told me that "nothing lasts forever". Thats pretty piss poor customer relations for a vise that costs $900 with all of the attachments.Then they carged for each 1/2 of the vise jaws,Ground my old jaws down when I told them that I would post them on the net for all to see the shitty tempering job that was done on them. Like I said, customer appreaciation goes along ways. Norm and the Griffin company treat their customers right just like a lot of other vise manufacturers out there. I'm sure that I wasn't the first or the last to be treated by them this way... I believe the new jaws set me back $87.00 plus the other money that I sent them. When you spend that kind of money; Lifetime" should mean "lifetime" or until it blowsup or melts. besides, bad tempering is a manufacturing defect. Ok, I vented.... And BTW, I do like they're product, I just hate the way they treated me. So, Therefore I won't endorse their product anymore.

Better call them before you go mailing off that vise. Good luck on tryting to collect on That "lifetime " warranty too. They'll probably tell you that you're tying to big of fly's on their vise like they did me. My problem was it was a matter of time before I puy someone's eye out because after inserting a hook in the jaws of my Saltwater Master (it's suppose to tye down to a 28 and up to a 10/0 as they advertise) they would fly out accross the room into no mans land. I quit using it at exhibitions because I was afraid of being sued for blinding somebody. they charge you to look at your vise to determine whether or not it's a warraty issue. I've since tye on a Nor-Vise. At least Norm stands behind his product. When I asked Renzetti about their lifetime warranty , I was told that "nothing lasts forever"...

I just went out and bought 6 of them for the class room. But, you don't really have to rush out there like I did. The only knocked off $2.00 for the sale. I'll let you know what the students think. I have several different styles in the shop to give them a choice. Randy

You can find Hobbs feather Co. under Zucker feather Co. This is the same outfit that sells the brown/white bags of feathers in Micheals Craft stores.The address on their catalog is: hobbs Fly-Fishing 28419 Hwy 87 California, MO 65018 Tel: 314-667-5565 Fax:314-431-0433 Randy

what materials did you use for that. Looks good to me! Randy

What is the Feather that you used in this pattern? Is it dyed Mallard Flank or Wood Duck? Thanks for sharing, Very nice tye. Randy Diefert

Norm now makes a clamp fpr his Vice set up. I saw the guy from Terra tools tye with it in Albany last year. Contact Norm.

looks like what I call Vet- Wrap that I use on my horses and Dogs. You can buy it through any animal supply catalog and your local feed store. I keep some with me in my first aid kit because like the site says, you can keep wounds "breathing" yet hold bandages in place. From a fly tyers perspective , I would think that it could possibly be useful as winging material. Caddis? The material does stick to itself but not other materials which makes it nice for first aid uses as well as sports applications. You heard of V-rib now there's vet-wrap flies...

I actually prefer both. It really depends on what I'm doing and which vise I'm using. When I tye at shows a lot of the time they have tables that are too thick for the c-clamp ( this also goes for picnic tables when camping). So, what I do is this; I take a 3/4"x 12"x16" piece of pine board and c-clamp that to the table with larger c-clamps that I bought from the local hardware store. When I tye on my Renzetti Master a base is too high. This way, I can adjust the vise's height and also create a small shelf for my tools to rest on out of the way. I use this same method if I'm using my Griffin Oddysey Cam vise and it works well. When I use the Norvise to tye with, It comes with it's own travel bag and board (base) to set it on. This system is convenient too. I seem to have to cut most 3/8" vise stems down to get them at the right height for me to tye with if I use a base. After a while of using them (bases), I seem to get a pain in my neck and upper back. It seems as though at the awkward height your arms are like "hanging in mid-air" which increases in being unconfortable as you're tying for long periods of time.

No, I haven't included hackles in any of my ropes yet. The ropes that I really like to make are the polarbaer dubbing and seal dubbing ropes and .060 stainless wire. preshape the underbody and make dragon nymphs with them. these flies are awesome after you give them a very close hair-cut before you add the wingcases,thorax,legs and eyes. And they catch big fish too! that's got to be the best part.

I thought that he was a new owner at Hook and Hackle. The store has also moved from it's original location. I got a really good deal from them on a large hook order ($1100.00) for my fly club's tying session members last year and they were ok to deal with. Randy

That's a beautiful shot! Thanks for sharing it with us. Randy

I made mine using a sewing machine motor and an ordinary lighting dimmer switch to control the speed. for wire I use .009 stainless wire. You can also make up some nice brushes to tye a Denny Rickerds Seal bugger by using red wire to make your brushes. I also own a machine made by Lenny Roots formally from Kamloops BC that I paid $100.00 for. Nice machine but, I like the one that I built myself better. because it has infinite speed control and can make an 18" brush for 3 big Dragons. Randy

I would have to agree with most of the comments here. find out what your target species is. Go find a pattern book and buy the materials to tye 6 patterns as this is probably all you'll need to catch fish. Get proficiant at tying those 6 patterns. Then go on from there. If you want to really get proficiant in your tying start joining Fly swaps ( there are several good ones always going on right here), in no time you'll see your materials stash growing as you attempt new patterns. I think that swaps increases your tying abilities 10 fold because here's the deal. You tye flys for yourself and make a mistake ; no big deal. now tye a dozen fly's for your peers... Everyone of them has to be near perfect because you have no idea which of your fly's will be photographed and displayed on the www. Swaps are fun too in that you get to meet more tyers ,see more patterns live and get to learn the one's that intrique you, and see different ways to use new materials to you. There, I knew if I waited long enough it come come back full circle to materials... Sorry, for getting off tract. Randy

I use them on the tails for my dubbed Dragon nymph and gofus bug patterns

I believe that the fastest and easiest way to get dubbing from your hand to the hook has got to be using a Nor-Vise. Because the hook is spinning not your hand and wrist. So you don't have a Nor-Vise you say... Well, I'd have to say that the second favorite way of mine would be a dubbing spinning tool (I believe the gadget that I have is called an E-Z Spin). I don't like to tye with waxed thread or use wax for appying dubbing . Here's why... I primarily use a water-based head cement. I don't believe that head cement of any kind can penetrate thread or a thread base if it is covered with wax. It is alsoi my belief that it would be like pouring glue on a raincoat and expecting it to penetrate it. I know that the unwaxed thread that I use really soaks up color from the marking pens that I use and so does the water-based head cement. it's just what works for me, take it for what you will but, the wax applied to the thread sometimes "matts " down the fine materials too. Another way to apply dubbing is the "friction" method which is simply rolling the dubbing over your thread using your thumb and fore finger. kind of like your "pinching it" and rolling it at the same time. Hope this helped.

It's like comparing oranges to Apples when you compare Liquid Lace to Larva Lace... It doesn't stretch like Liquid Lace , isn't as pliable, flattens when stretched, Liquid Lace is filled ,hence you get a perfect segmented body everytime. There is a short learning curve at the beginning though. I love it for most of my chironomids,nymphs,stone fly's, blood worms, caddis,Mayfly and Damsel bodies. You can easily tye down to a 28 with the new micro Liquid Lace.

That is a great idea. Maybe if groups got their plans up early enough , other people could sign up to attend and draw more new talent. Randy

Mister Chubbs I'm Impressed!!! Who would have thought... Great job. Randy

I can't get it to open either... Thanks for sharing though. Randy

Welcome to one of the best knowledge based Forums on the web! I was born in Monroe Parish but live in the other corner of the country now on Whidbey Island in Washington State. Welcome and see you around the site! Randy

Sounds pretty cool. I have a small group of guys come over and it's sort of the same thing. I like it better when it is a smaller group because you can get "focussed". I did a thing like this for my club and they cahrgeed $10.00 per head and all materials were included. You thing that you didn't know was how many were going to show up at each session. I sent out emails each week and the crowd varied from 20- 1(myself, that happen on 3 occaisions and I quit doing it).We were doing the sessions at a fire hall then, now I do them in my small shop at home. I like it better there because I don't have to pack up each week to unpack when I get home. Randy