Thompson AA vise, Are they any good?

[Sockeye guy 0]

I have found a Thompsno AA vise on craigslist and was wondering if they are any good or if they are the same as the Cabelas AA vises. This one is a real Thompson if that matters. Are they any good?

[TitanFlies 0]

http://www.jsflyfishing.com/cgi-bin/item/O...er-AA-Vise.html

 

There you go, perfect vise to suit your needs.

[Old Hat 0]

They are not the same. Thompson made "quality" beginner vises but are no longer in operation. You can find remnant parts and such around fairly easily though.

[flykid 0]

I would get the thompson. I've heard good things about them and they last forever. If all you want/need is a bare bones vice I'd say that's the way to go.

[utyer 0]

I started on my father's Thompson model A, and kept it as I moved up to more expensive vises. I finally retired the clamp mount, but kept the jaws to use in my Pro Model. I also purchased the midge jaws when I got the Pro. These were the vises I used in 1957 to 1969. They were fine quality American made vises. By the late 60s, there were a number of Indian made knock off vises. These most often had the Sunrise brand associated with them. The vises themselves were not labeled. The early Thompson vises were marked on the clamping lever. My niece is now using the vise, so after three generations of tyiers, I would say it was worth it. I purchased a second Thompson A to give my nephew, it too was an older American made model.

 

The older American made Thompsons were fine vises. They were and are pretty basic, but they did the job. There are now many many knock offs of these old Thompsons. If you find an old one, they should give you good service. I can't say the same for all the knock offs. Many shops use these knock off vises in their tying classes, and I have worked in several shops and used them for teaching, and demonstration. I know in the shop I worked at, a knock off vise would last maybe 6 months. That was about 48 three hour tying sessions before they started to break down.

 

The DH Thompson Brand is still offering vises. Email them to find out where they are made. The model A or an older Pro should be pretty easy to find used, and should still give you good service. I wouldn't spend too much if anything on a new or used knock off model.

[Guest]

Thompson didn't make an "AA" vise, they made an "A". So, if the ad says AA it is probably a knock off and their using the Thompson name generically.

 

 

[Steam 0]

Got my Thompson AA 46 yrs. ago. Still love it more than I love most people.

[SalarMan 0]

On 9/13/2009 at 9:36 AM, Sockeye guy said:

I have found a Thompsno AA vise on craigslist and was wondering if they are any good or if they are the same as the Cabelas AA vises. This one is a real Thompson if that matters. Are they any good?

If you haven't made the purchase yet, here is what I suggest. Look on both ebay and etsy. I know there are LOTS of Thompson A vises on ebay at reasonable prices.

Great well built vise I tied on for many years, until my wife bought me a Renzetti for Christmas. I passed along the Thompson to a young beginner and he is still putting it to good use.

[flyflinger 0]

I had a Thompson A vise many-many years ago, and it was "ok" for average size hooks - the tricky part (for a beginner) is adjusting hook holding pressure sufficiently without damaging the hook, especially on small hooks.  IMO, the size of the jaws also didn't lend itself to very small hooks like 18 and smaller.  If you tie very small or pretty large hooks, I think there are better vises available these days, and some very reasonably priced.  Price point is the key, and I of course don't know what that is for you personally.  As was mentioned above, be cautious of cheap clones - there are some really poor quality imitations.     

Regards,

 

[Ephemerella 0]

Even the venerated Thompson A vise had a design weakness. The pin used as the fulcrum for the clamping lever (handle) would fatigue. Many years ago, replacement pins were available, for not much more than the postage, but they too suffered the same fate. I eventually replaced the 3rd failed pin with a hardened roll pin, which still works, although I have not used it in years, having moved on to an HMH Spartan (one of the early versions).