What Vise do you use?

[nathan 0]

I started out with a Cortland vice that was given to me,and used it for several years.My next vice was a D-K Prince.....About three years ago my wife surprised me with a D-K Baraucuda..Nathan

[caughtonlures*com 0]

I am tying with the Nor Vise. I have to say that it is a little hard to first get use to it but found with the many accessories, and monetarily it all adds up, this vise functions extremely well. I would add that I have found the need to spend time in studying patterns in books, magazines or other receipe places and then translate it to Nor Tying. May take a little longer to figure out but once the patterns are down this is a wiz in production.

 

I would like to note the first thought in wanting to tie on a Nor Vise was to boost production on Bucktail Treble Hooks. Making of Spinners and such.

 

Finally, would like to add there is not much in Nor Vise Tying literature out there. Wish there was and would love to find more Nor Tyers out there to share there techinques and practices on using this system.

 

Nicholas

 

 

[J Desjardins 0]

I'm using a Renzetti cam traveler that works well for size 2- 26. Bigger than that, or deer hair bugs and I get the problems Troutbum & Dbl Haul had. Even with those problems it's a lot better than the Sunshine vice that preceeded it, and that was lots better than my home made options before that.

[Steeldrifter 0]

Not to "high jack" the thread but just to maybe help anyone that has the problem like TB and others had with the "rubber band" drying&breaking on their renzetti (mine did also after about 2 years). All it is is a O-ring that you can go to any hardware store and pick up about 25 of them for a dollar.

 

I remeber when mine broke a fly shop told me they could "order one" for me.. yeah right

 

Now back to your local program

 

SD

[Guest]

Easy to replace or not, it is still cheezy. Abel sells a $500 vise with the same design.

 

Stevie, you can highjack my thread anytime you want.

[Steeldrifter 0]

QUOTE (TroutBum @ Jul 27 2004, 08:56 PM)

Stevie, you can highjack my thread anytime you want.

Awww TB i'm touched.............

 

SD

[kschu 0]

When I started my fly tying class this last spring, I had a Thompson vise that I had bought from a fly tying friend at work for $10. The manager at my fly shop saw me take the vise out for class and offered to let me try any of the vises he had on display. I looked at the low end since I had almost no tying experiance at that point.

 

I started with the low end (ballpark $100), a Dyna King but I don't recall what model. I found the jaws to be awkward and just felt that the vise was "in my way". I know that is totally objective and just one man's opinion.

 

Next I tried the Renzetti traveler which bumped me up to $150. This is the one with the two screws and the O-ring folks have mentioned. George was careful to show me how to properly mount a hook into this vise. I loved it and bought it before I left that day.

 

I've been using it for five months now. I've gotten plenty of use out of it. My instructor and several others who have taught me various patterns have all been fans of rotary vises and have showed me how to properly use this feature. I find it very helpful when putting dubbing and other materials on nymphs.

 

The one time I make a point of not using the rotary is when I tie clousers. After I tie on the first bundle of material, I dismount the hook and then mount it inverted. One just can't tie the second side of a clouser with the vise inverted and the jaws up in your way like that. They do make a clouser arm which is straight and works lets you tie the second side without remounting the hook. It works very nicely, but changing the vise between the clouser rotary arm and the "bent" rotary arm is a bunch of effort. If I am tying a couple dozen clousers and/or other streamers, it is worth the effort, but for just a couple, I will just remount the hook.

 

One of the main features that I like is the portability. I can tie in the dining room to be near the rest of the family (and plenty of sunlight). Or I can tie downstairs in the hamshack, to get away from others and the interuptions (and near my good quality desk lamp). I've taken it into work to trade demonstrations of other patterns with a co-worker. (We had quite an audience for that lunch hour). And I take it into the fly shop for working with other tiers. I also bought a very nice case for carrying the vise and a good assortment of tying materials and tools.

 

Lately I have been "hosting" a monthly tying session at the local shop for members of the Illinois Smallmouth Alliance. Last night we learned each others different techniques and tips for tying clousers. I demonstrated why I find it best to remove and re-mount the hook when tying clousers. I also learned how much of a difference it can make when you cut bucktail from different portions of the hide. And I now tie a much neater head on a clouser. The shop owner enjoyed telling us about the time Bob Clouser visited the store and tied with the customers.

 

At least one other club member has tried the Renzetti like I did and then bought it. The best advice I can give is to tie a couple flies with any vise you are thinking of buying. There is no subsitute for hands on testing when it comes to a primary tool, like the vise. "Try before you buy" can only help you make a better buying decision.

 

More later,

Ken S.

 

[Peddler 0]

I had a kit vise and stepped up to a Griffin with the 'cheezy' o-ring. I found out I like 'cheezy' so much I stepped up to a Renzetti! I think giving Mr. Renzetti his due for coming up with a nice, practical 'true rotary' design for the others to copy is the right thing to do. Others agree with me so much that rumor has it the 'me too' vise makers now have to pay royalties to Renzetti if they use the bent shaft style. It is a cinch to copy and improve on a great design and idea, Renzetti layed the groundwork and others merely copied. You see it all the time in the automotive field.

[crash 0]

started with a cheap metal vise i use only to hold flys i am copying.. went to the thompson 360 slt, wore out too many pins and d rings.. bought a regal, which i still have. sold the thompson , bought a new norvise with the cam jaws.. just did not work out for me.. its a slick vise, just not my cup of tea.. i would have had to buy all the different heads to justify using it all the time (and that would have run me another 250-300 for all the adaptors.. .. sold that, got another regal out of that deal..

 

but i am really leaning towards the dynaking barracuda deluxe. i'll keep one of the regals for my portable kit.. ..

 

 

[Guest]

LOL, sorry, but I don't care much for the "renzetti started it, so give him his due". Everything good in history started out like that. Should we be paying (and I do believe it was lamiglas) royalties for using graphite for fishing rods? They are the ones who implemented it into the marketplace? Everyone copies something, if you want to call it that. I think dynaking (who is in reference to alot of this) more then improved it, they produced a much better, cleaner vise. I do believe the patent was gone, it's their "trademark" that their was infringements on. I haven't heard alot about it, but I know a few were going to change the arm (which is REALLY easy). Hell, hooks are copied all the time, who ever was the first to produce them should get royalties for that shouldn't they? Nah, hooks have been improved dramatically over the years. Just like everything else. Plus, if you compare a low end full rotary like the dynaking junior trekker vs. the renzetti traveler, I still feel the DK is a far better vise (and about just as light). Plus, fully machined and LOOKS it. The bit thing that turned me off about renzetti (besides something else personal) is that it looks like cheap potmetal (though it's probably aluminum). Reminds me of the impeller of my jet boat I had. And yes, I've owned a renzetti (now sold off after the "other" problem). So now getting an HMH tube fly vise instead. But renzetti will get no more of my business, nor any of my customers if I can help it.

[Sippy 0]

Mine doesn't have a name since my friend made it. I figured a pic would be the best description. John just bought a Renzetti that I'd like to try out and compare since this is the only vise I've ever used.

 

 

[Guest]

Somebody made that for you? I'm impressed! I'm in no way mechanical so most metal things impress me, but that is very cool.

 

You know Jerry, somebody should sue Renzetti for putting cam lock jaws on their vise. I think it would have to be HMH, they used them first.

[Sippy 0]

He's a machinist and made up a bunch. He was auctioning them on ebay for $300-$350. He sold one to me for $100 which I was very happy with.

[Guest]

I've got three (maybe four, I haven't seen one of them in several years...might have been sold in one of the garage sales when we moved). The vises I tie most on are my Thompson Model A (about 19 years old now, & I have both the standard jaws & salwater jaws) which stays up in my office for the few times I haven't got some work to do (or just can't stand to do it...during finals week I do sometimes tie flies during the finals period between walking around looking for cheaters). In my travel kit, there is a cheap Sunrise vise, basically an Indian copy of the Thompson which has served me well. (My wife also has one of these in her travel kit), Last year for our anniversary my wife bought me a Danvise...which I didn't like too much because there wasn't much room behind the jaws to work on the larger flies I often tie for warmwater and saltwater. This year for our anniversary my wife bought me an extension arm for the Danvise which provides for more room behind the jaws from BT's Fly Fishing (Al Beatty's store). This item isn't in their catalog, you have to e-mail Al to ask about it. The arm is pictured at

http://btsflyfishing.com/danvise.htm. To get the contact info, just lop off the the danvise.htm and that will get you to the main site page. So far, I've liked the vise with the extension, but after 20+ years of tying on non-rotary vises it is taking me a while to get used to the rotary vise.

 

Mark Delaney

[Guest]

LOL TB. I know.

 

Oh, found out, DK has to pay ZERO royalties to them. So they weren't affected.