hmh trv review

[flytire 0]

the hook grooves in the jaw are curved (in mine anyway). i tried to insert my bodkin in one of the grooves and it would not lay in the groove

[Mark Knapp 0]

the hook grooves in the jaw are curved (in mine anyway). i tried to insert my bodkin in one of the grooves and it would not lay in the groove

 

You are exactly right, I took a closer look and saw that I was wrong. I ran down to edit my post, hoping that no one caught my mistake but you guys are too fast.

 

I just put a 7/0, a 9/0 and an 11/0 (all Owners) hook in the vise and the 7/0 held really well in the smallest groove, the 9/0 wouldn't fit in a groove but held fine and the 11/0 wouldn't fit in a groove but it did clamp between the ends of the jaws, not well. The jaws don't open wide enough for the two bigger hooks to fit into the grooves.

[DFoster 0]

the hook grooves in the jaw are curved (in mine anyway). i tried to insert my bodkin in one of the grooves and it would not lay in the groove

Last night I pushed the retaining pin in the jaw out to separate them to see if it was as easy as Gunnar shows in his video and it was. I would recommend using a tool that's a little more stout than a bodkin (head of a finish nail) and there is a small coil spring inside you need to be careful not to lose. The hook grooves are accessible with the jaws apart and you can decide which groove to use for a given size hook. In the Gunnar video he uses the smallest groove for a 2/0. So maybe any hook smaller than that you shouldn't use the grooves? The jaws were very easy to reassemble.

 

Mark I completely agree with you about the jaw design strength. A machined piece is stronger but IMO you would have to crank the tension knob way past the torque needed to hold the hook securely to break the jaw. HMH does warn against tightening a hook at the very edge of the jaws but then again the same warning came with my Renzetti-

 

About the jaws- After reading the criticism about the HMH jaw finish I snapped some close ups below. Now I'm not a machinist and maybe I'm missing something but I'd have to say the jaws on the HMH are at least as polished as the jaws on my Renzetti. The jaws and rotary on my TRV work butter smooth and the finish is beautiful.

 

So far the only criticisms I have-

1) I have the pedestal model and I wish the stem was little taller.

2) A more comprehensive and detailed owners manual would be nice.

3) Sadly there was no HMH truck decal to be found in the box.

 

As far as I'm concerned the TRV I received is exactly what I expected it to be, an obtainable, quality alternative to a Law vise.

 

[flytire 0]

I tie on size 6 salmon style hooks and use the smaller groove. The smaller groove should accept other types of hooks even in smaller sizes with round bends

[Mark Knapp 0]

I tied on mine for a few hours last night. First off, I found the jaw tips a lot more accommodating than my previous vise especially for small hooks. I tied in sizes from 12 to 16. I especially like that the tails of the flies weren't crammed into the jaws like they were on my other vise.

 

 

I was also able to spin dubbing around the thread as was shown in the Norvise video on the dubbing spinner thread. I found that to be a lot easier than applying dubbing in the conventional way. Not as nice as it was on the Norvise but still very nice.

[Mark Knapp 0]

Tied on the new vise a few more hours last night. I tied some more dry flies in 12, 14 and 16 sizes.

 

Here's a Borcher special

 

I also spun some sweet little dubbing "noodles", Norvise style, for the Light Hendrecksons but I can't get the camera to focus on the noodle. I'll have to work on that some more.

 

I also put some small bolts in the threaded holes on the palm wheel to experiment with that. With a bolt in the hole on the outside diameter of the palm wheel it worked well as a "finger knob". But when I put it in the hole on the end of the palm wheel it did not perform well as a crank. It's like the arch of the knob is too small, too close to the center of the axis. You may have better luck.

[DFoster 0]

I tied on mine for a few hours last night. First off, I found the jaw tips a lot more accommodating than my previous vise especially for small hooks. I tied in sizes from 12 to 16. I especially like that the tails of the flies weren't crammed into the jaws like they were on my other vise.

 

 

I was also able to spin dubbing around the thread as was shown in the Norvise video on the dubbing spinner thread. I found that to be a lot easier than applying dubbing in the conventional way. Not as nice as it was on the Norvise but still very nice.

Mark if you like open space behind the hook try pivoting the vice up to a 30 degree angle. I've noticed this is the way several pros tie.

[Mark Knapp 0]

Dfoster, is that possible and still use it as a TRV? Thanks, I will try it both ways but I'm really liking the rotary vise.

[DFoster 0]

Mark you can rotate the fly no matter what angle you choose but the hook shank will not spin in an even plane like it does when the head is level. However tilting the vice up is a great option if you want to wrap down the hook bend or need room around the back of the hook. Check out Oliver Edwards flytying on YouTube. He ties often with the vice elevated.

[DFoster 0]

Dfoster, is that possible and still use it as a TRV? Thanks, I will try it both ways but I'm really liking the rotary vise.

Happy New Year Mark- I noticed Davie Mcphail and Oliver Edwards both angle their LAW vise upward when tying some flies and they are not wrapping materials using the rotary feature. See the photos. I assume that in some cases they prefer more room around the fly or maybe they just want it a little higher above their desk?

[Mark Knapp 0]

 

Dfoster, is that possible and still use it as a TRV? Thanks, I will try it both ways but I'm really liking the rotary vise.

Happy New Year Mark- I noticed Davie Mcphail and Oliver Edwards both angle their LAW vise upward when tying some flies and they are not wrapping materials using the rotary feature. See the photos. I assume that in some cases they prefer more room around the fly or maybe they just want it a little higher above their desk?

 

 

Thanks, I can see the advantages of tilting the jaws up, especially on very small flies. I'm still working out how i'm going to use the vise. I will probably do some of both, just like the pros.

 

I haven't used it much in the last five days, fishing got in the way. But I am liking it very much.

[Bazzer69 0]

Photos published in a seperate thread of my new CA Engineering Vise

Barry

[rstaight 0]

Mark,

 

What a problem to have, fishing getting in the way.

[Mark Knapp 0]

rstraight,

 

Yep, it's been horrible. I had to come back to work in the shop a couple days to get some rest. Fishing through the ice isn't as much fun as fly fishing but I like it a lot. In the last few day the most notable catches were a 24 inch char and a few 4 to 4 1/2 pound rainbows.

[Poopdeck 0]

I love ice fishing. I look forward to changing to ice fishing every year. I prefer ice fishing over fly fishing in really cold weather and cold but still liquid water. Problem is we still don't have ice. Last year I had to travel two hours to find ice. This years not looking so hot for ice either.