Why don't I like my Dyna-King Excalibur?

[Sandan 0]

34 minutes ago, niveker said:

 

@terp

I was just being a smart-ass with my comment.  Those vises are a bit above my pay grade.  My next one will most likely be a Peak Rotary.    

Me too. I'm more than happy with my Pro. That vise does it all for me. I mean if it's good enough for Charlie Craven it's good enough for me.

[Moshup 0]

Don’t think I’ll ever need another vise as having the Dyna King Ultimate pretty much fits my needs. But if you are selling it

let me know and I’ll ask around.

[flytire 0]

5 hours ago, terp said:

I've been thinking about selling it and am open to offers.  I bought it used from a professional fly tier on this forum for $450 a year ago.  I then got new midge jaws ($100) and also got the existing standard jaw refurbished by Dyna-King (I forget the cost of this).  I've probably tied 10 flies on it at most.

i believe there is a 40 post limit before you can offer items for sale

maybe a moderator can put back  the "trading floor rules and guidelines" back as a sticky on that category (no longer there)

[Mike West 0]

Yeah you are doing something wrong.Ive been tying on aDyna-King for 30+ years..Hooks don’t slip in it.

 

[terp 0]

Thanks everyone.  It sounds like I may be doing something wrong, but I've decided to sell it as I just don't need the full true rotary functionality.  The Regal Revolution is rotary enough for my needs and the ease of use and jaw strength cannot be beaten.  If I were tying a lot of dry flies with traditional hackle, or doing a lot of palmering or laying a lot of chenille, etc., then it might be of more value to me.  I didn't start this post off with the intent of selling but the more I thought about it the more I decided to unload it.  I was unaware of rules around selling things here only after 40 posts.  So I'm listing it elsewhere: https://www.billkiene.com/forums/showthread.php?45726-For-Sale-Dyna-King-Excalibur-With-Pedestal-Base

I may just get a used Renzetti Traveler for if/when I need full/true rotary.

[terp 0]

I would add that in using a Chinese knock-off of a Renzetti Traveler I found the hook grip to be fine.  So when I consider the jaw desing of a Dyna-King, the notch in the jaw seems like a needless complication.  I've read that around hook size 8 Dyna-Kings are tough to find the right grip.  Neither the Renzetti's nor the Regals have the notch, and the grip isn't a problem.  Maybe the notch provides extra security if you're yanking your thread a lot but that's not the type of tying I do.  Again, maybe I'm missing something about the whole Dyna-King design philosophy, and I don't mean to disparage any DK fans.

One other thing I would add is that I might have been better off buying the Regal Medallion with stainless jaws, as I rarely use the rotary function of the Revolution except to examine the underside of the fly, which apparently can be done with the Medallion (at a much lower cost).

[terp 0]

I may have figured out my problem.  I was using the midge jaws with hooks that may have been a little too big.  I put the standard jaw back on and will give this another shot and try to get used to the notch and tightening adjustments.

[Sandan 0]

17 hours ago, terp said:

I may have figured out my problem.  I was using the midge jaws with hooks that may have been a little too big.  I put the standard jaw back on and will give this another shot and try to get used to the notch and tightening adjustments.

If you run into any problems give us a shout.

[JohnMD1022 0]

On 9/18/2021 at 12:42 PM, terp said:

I would add that in using a Chinese knock-off of a Renzetti Traveler I found the hook grip to be fine.  So when I consider the jaw desing of a Dyna-King, the notch in the jaw seems like a needless complication.  I've read that around hook size 8 Dyna-Kings are tough to find the right grip.  Neither the Renzetti's nor the Regals have the notch, and the grip isn't a problem.  Maybe the notch provides extra security if you're yanking your thread a lot but that's not the type of tying I do.  Again, maybe I'm missing something about the whole Dyna-King design philosophy, and I don't mean to disparage any DK fans.

One other thing I would add is that I might have been better off buying the Regal Medallion with stainless jaws, as I rarely use the rotary function of the Revolution except to examine the underside of the fly, which apparently can be done with the Medallion (at a much lower cost).

I just find the grooved jaws to be a distraction, After 55 years tying, I don't know if I could ever fully adjust.

They could offer plain jaws as an option, and not as a $100+ add-on.

 

[redietz 0]

On 9/18/2021 at 11:27 AM, terp said:

I may just get a used Renzetti Traveler for if/when I need full/true rotary.

The Traveler is another vise that you need to fiddle with to get to hold a hook.  If you don't like the Dyna-King, you probably won't like the Traveler for the same reason.

[Mark Knapp 0]

Just to be clear, the rules have been changed, you only need 30 posts to sell on "The Classifieds" on this site.

[trailryder 0]

It's possible that you got bad jaws. I had a similar problem with a Dyna-King Barracuda that I bought in the early 2000's. I fought with that vise for about 5-6 years including sending it back twice. This was the standard jaws and I had the majority of my problems when tying on size 8-12 hooks. The hooks were too small to fit in one of the pockets and the tips of the jaw would not hold tight. 

May not apply but just a thought as it was a problem I went through a number of years ago.

Jamie

[ScienceGuy141 0]

I've had similar troubles trying to get hooks to hold in the tips of the jaws. I bought the vise used, so very possible it's just that the jaws are worn. Getting the midge jaws would maybe be the way to go, but I can't justify the price of replacement jaws yet when I didn't pay that much for the vise to start with. 

[Mark Knapp 0]

40 minutes ago, ScienceGuy141 said:

I've had similar troubles trying to get hooks to hold in the tips of the jaws. I bought the vise used, so very possible it's just that the jaws are worn. Getting the midge jaws would maybe be the way to go, but I can't justify the price of replacement jaws yet when I didn't pay that much for the vise to start with. 

It could be that you could resurface the insides of the jaws and have a very good vise again. That's what I would do.

Get some 800 grit emery cloth, fold the cloth so you can grind on both sides at the same time, close the jaws so they are almost gripping the cloth, pull the emery up and down through the jaws. It will cut only where the jaws touch it snugly. As it loosens up, tighten the jaws a little more, and repeat. Do that till the jaws are crisp and sharp again.

[ScienceGuy141 0]

2 hours ago, Mark Knapp said:

It could be that you could resurface the insides of the jaws and have a very good vise again. That's what I would do.

Get some 800 grit emery cloth, fold the cloth so you can grind on both sides at the same time, close the jaws so they are almost gripping the cloth, pull the emery up and down through the jaws. It will cut only where the jaws touch it snugly. As it loosens up, tighten the jaws a little more, and repeat. Do that till the jaws are crisp and sharp again.

Thanks, Mark! I'll have to give that a try.