Vise Positioning

[SalarMan 0]

I had a conversation with an old friend recently about how we set our vises up for tying...specifically focused on height.

He has his vise on the edge of his desk sitting darn near in his lap. He claims that enables him to tie comfortably as long as he wishes to sit and work. I on the other hand have my vise in a pedestal base with the jaws about chin level or slightly higher. This puts the fly virtually at eye level which I am very comfortable with.

What about you fellow tyers?

George

[Sandan 0]

Pedestal base on the desk. Jaws are about an inch below the bottom of my neck/collarbone.

[Mark Knapp 0]

I'm like you. Mine is almost at eye height on a pedestal. This allows me to tie while the fly is vertical and I have, almost, exactly a side view, and I have lots of room for hand clearance and the bobbin holder underneath the fly. I'm petty sure my hands are bigger than average and I like to hang my bobbin holder under there with line out for winding. I re-wind the bobbin a lot less for hanging with room under the fly. I also have lots of room under there for spinning a dubbing noodle.

[cphubert 0]

My rotary is bench mounted at top of shoulder height, but I also have a clamp mounted dyna-king with the extension arm that I can adjust lower but not to my lap. At times I also find this more comfortable, it is also my preferred position when I take a travel box set up. I try keep the same focal distance with both

[Jaydub 0]

I have my vise on an extension that brings it out away from the edge of the desk a little. The vise is at about chin height. That combination allows me to sit back in my chair and have my upper arms nearly  at my sides. I found that reaching up and out to tie caused fatigue. 

[niveker 0]

My pedestal vise is positioned just below my chin.  I've have oak round with live edge that I have been planning to use as a platform to raise it a bit, but have not finalized any design for it yet.  The current height doesn't bother me all that much, only occasionally.  

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Given that most freshwater tyers have plenty of time during winter for tying... and the usual practice of adding materials - then trimming carefully with each additional material... I was expecting that they'd want their vises mounted a good bit higher than I use mine... Yes, I'm only tying for saltwaters (mostly...) and yes I was a commercial tyer for many years... I have my vise (a beat up old Crest manual vise with super jaws...) set about four to five inches above my desktop - well below eye level - and use one of those Danish style, backless knee chairs for my seating...  

 

I was taught a commercial style of tying many years ago where you very carefully trim each material then tie it in place without the slightest extra motion (no trimming at all, mostly...).  I was offered a rotary vise many years ago from Renzetti - a very nice unit at a huge discount - but would have had to change all of my tying routines to be any good with it - so I turned it down..  Production tying encourages you to break down your tying efforts, ie... tying calf tail spreaders on 10, 20, however many pieces a particular tarpon pattern is ordered for with no extra flourishes, then when it's time to tie in tail feather (or rabbit strips...) along with any flash required - that's a second step - and so forth.  Do it enough times and the motion become automatic and you only pay attention when something isn't right...   I always measured my production by completed flies of the same pattern - per hour... .and that's how they were priced to the shop... always trying to achieve a minimum of $ 20 per hour at wholesale.  That was years ago - these days the marker would be higher since our money is worth so much less (thanks all you well educated folks that run our government...) bu I digress.. 

The only time I slow down and get very careful about each material is when I'm doing something I've imagined (with variations for testing a few days later...) or when I'm doing my very first copy of someone else's pattern and trying to figure out how they did the sample I had... The following two pics are of the later stages of production - final super glue step - then mounted on a rotisserie stick (nothing but a couple of old rod sections with cork rings every five or six inches...(this was what I came up with - long before those really nice drying wheels came along for epoxy finishes... ).

Thread heads super glued then dried - then eyes painted directly onto thread and allowed to dry thoroughly before the final finish is applied...

flies FlexCoated then turned in a rotisserie for two hours before being allowed to cure out for a day... then ready for packaging and delivery (or shipping...).

[ScienceGuy141 0]

My vise is at about collarbone level, but never really thought about it too much if I'm being honest. Just happens to be where it ends up given the height of my desk/chair.

[Poopdeck 0]

I’ve had many tying positions. I use to like to tie standing but as of late I began using magnification to tie 14 and smaller so now I sit because of some weird vertigo like stuff when using magnification. My tying bench has a flat front so you can’t sit under the top like a desk. My vise jaws are shoulder level. I prefer a C clamp over a base because I have the vise on an extension that extends about 6” from the edge of the bench. This brings the vise about 6” away from the hat magnifiers I have to wear now. I have a small trash can ghetto rigged to the edge of the bench directly under the vise. It catches about half of my clippings but better then none. I only use a base when I travel but I really don’t do that anymore since Covid has shut down my traveling tying group. Don’t think it will ever return either. Tying with outstretched arms hunched over a base mounted vise on a desk top gives me sore shoulders. I really like having the vise under my chin, so to speak. 

[mikechell 0]

My vise sits about even with my solar plexus. (For those that don't know, it's that little depression a the bottom of your breastbone.)  I sit a little back from the table, so when I am tying, my forearms are close to parallel with the floor.  I'm looking down at my fly with my eyes, but with my bifocals on, my head is up and my face is straight forward.

[DarrellP 0]

4 hours ago, mikechell said:

My vise sits about even with my solar plexus. (For those that don't know, it's that little depression a the bottom of your breastbone.)  I sit a little back from the table, so when I am tying, my forearms are close to parallel with the floor.  I'm looking down at my fly with my eyes, but with my bifocals on, my head is up and my face is straight forward.

This

[SalarMan 0]

Most interesting replies. It is fascinating to me how we all accomplish the same task with so many different approaches. I'm a little disappointed we haven't heard from one of our most prolific tyers/posters...flytire.

[ScienceGuy141 0]

I'd be very curious to know how flytire positions his vise as well. Frankly, I'd try to copy anything he does based on the results he produces. 

[WWKimba 0]

1 minute ago, ScienceGuy141 said:

I'd be very curious to know how flytire positions his vise as well. Frankly, I'd try to copy anything he does based on the results he produces. 

With all the UFO siting's, I'd ask them because flytier is out of this world!

Kim

[flytire 0]

@ScienceGuy141 here you go

 

i do NOT do anything special.

my table is from walmart and the top surface is 29 1/2 inches off the floor

the center axis of the renzetti traveler is 39 inches off the floor

when sitting in my office style chair, my nose is about as high as the vise and that make me look directly at the subject.

the chair seat is about 16 inches off the floor

 

 

 

 

when sitting, i tie with my hands above my heart. i'm a short person and all of this nonsense works for ME

it took me over 40 years to achieve the tying position that's just right for me

be yourself and find the right sweet spot just for YOU