hmh trv review

[DFoster 0]

20 hours ago, danishnavas@ said:

Nox Vidmate VLC

For what it’s worth - IMO any top of the line vise from the established manufacturers would be a pleasure to own and use. If you like a “Law style” vise you won’t be disappointed with a TRV.  When you get one you’ll never need another. It is as reliable as a steel anvil for all the reasons I’ve detailed previously on this thread. I purchased mine in December 2019. After hundreds of flies, It shows no wear other than the gun metal bluing fading at the jaw tips from my fingers rubbing.  I recently looked the jaws over with a jeweler's loop and didn’t find a single sign of wear. It’s a great piece of equipment from a company known for great customer service. When I called to order my vise, Jon who is the owner of HMH answered the phone.  I hope this helps and the best of luck with your quest!

Dean

[SalarMan 0]

I own 3 vises. They are the HMH TRV, Renzetti Master Series and the Cottarelli T-Rex. I do like vises, and Dean is correct in that any top of the line vise from the established manufacturers are a pleasure to own and use. A pleasure to work on as well.

My go to vise most often is the TRV. Just something that fits my eye and that makes me comfortable when tying an involved Classic Atlantic Salmon Fly. However...I do use each of the vises from time to time just for the fun and variety.

George

[XPATier 0]

Well after getting everyone's opinion here and on other social media groups it seemed that there was a love/ hate relationship with the TRV. Some guys loved it, others hated it. After much thought I decided to go with the Renzetti Master.......oh AND the Renzetti Saltwater Clouser/Streamer vise too (you only live once). Both fantastic vises. The Master is smooth as butter. I thought my Dyna-King Barracuda was smooth....the Master is a pleasure to use. I've been tying some Clousers on the Clouser vise for bass and it is a great vise use.

Well again thank you guys for your input, very much appreciated.

Terry

trout-flies.com

[BobHRAH 0]

Has HMH resolved the problem that Mark had to fix for SalarMan, or do current versions still require tuning?

Thanks, Bob H

[SilverCreek 0]

14 minutes ago, XPATier said:

After much thought I decided to go with the Renzetti Master.......oh AND the Renzetti Saltwater Clouser/Streamer vise too (you only live once). Both fantastic vises. The Master is smooth as butter. I thought my Dyna-King Barracuda was smooth....the Master is a pleasure to use. I've been tying some Clousers on the Clouser vise for bass and it is a great vise use.

Well again thank you guys for your input, very much appreciated.

Terry

What's the serial number on your Master. I'm curious about how many they have sold.

[DFoster 0]

14 hours ago, BobHRAH said:

Has HMH resolved the problem that Mark had to fix for SalarMan, or do current versions still require tuning?

Thanks, Bob H

"problem" is a strong word, the short answer is no.  However I would add the TRV is designed to and will hold the largest hooks down to #28's.  Salarman was tying Victorian style salmon flies and needed to add in spacers to protect the black Japaning from being marred and the TRV jaws wouldn't open wide enough to accommodate the spacers on the largest hooks.  Not really a problem for 99% of the fly tyers in the world.

[DFoster 0]

15 hours ago, XPATier said:

Well after getting everyone's opinion here and on other social media groups it seemed that there was a love/ hate relationship with the TRV. Some guys loved it, others hated it. After much thought I decided to go with the Renzetti Master.......oh AND the Renzetti Saltwater Clouser/Streamer vise too (you only live once). Both fantastic vises. The Master is smooth as butter. I thought my Dyna-King Barracuda was smooth....the Master is a pleasure to use. I've been tying some Clousers on the Clouser vise for bass and it is a great vise use.

Well again thank you guys for your input, very much appreciated.

Terry

trout-flies.com

Congratulations Terry- the Renzetti is a fine vise. 

The trouble with buying high end vises is that most of us can't try them out first.  It's not like the local box stores carry a full selection. I am fortunate to have Bears Den fly shop nearby. They are a very large fly shop and usually have the top of the line offerings from all of the major manufacturers sitting on the shelf.  It's the only place I know of where buyers can get a side by side comparison and make a decision about which one is best for them.  A high end vise is really a personal thing, more a decision about taste than function. I've never cared for the Regal or Norvise designs but I know people who wouldn't part with them for anything, I feel that way about my TRV.  It's all what you like.

 

[SalarMan 0]

27 minutes ago, DFoster said:

"problem" is a strong word, the short answer is no.  However I would add the TRV is designed to and will hold the largest hooks down to #28's.  Salarman was tying Victorian style salmon flies and needed to add in spacers to protect the black Japaning from being marred and the TRV jaws wouldn't open wide enough to accommodate the spacers on the largest hooks.  Not really a problem for 99% of the fly tyers in the world.

What Dean says is only partially true based on my contacts with HMH, sellers and fellow owners of the TRV. The standard TRV as it is assembled will not handle anything larger than a 2/0 hook. As Jon Larrabee said to me, he cannot customize vises for various tyers needs...they are too small an operation for that. A fellow member here has a machine shop and he modified my vise the same as he did his own so it now handles hooks up to 9/0 or even 10/0. Without that modification I would not own that vise...but now I love it.

[SilverCreek 0]

17 hours ago, XPATier said:

Well after getting everyone's opinion here and on other social media groups it seemed that there was a love/ hate relationship with the TRV. Some guys loved it, others hated it. After much thought I decided to go with the Renzetti Master.......

Renzetti is working a Game Changer Jaw for the Master. They already have one for the Traveller and Presentation,

https://www.renzetti.com/game-changer-jaw/

 

[XPATier 0]

18 hours ago, SilverCreek said:

What's the serial number on your Master. I'm curious about how many they have sold.

6500

[XPATier 0]

2 hours ago, DFoster said:

Congratulations Terry- the Renzetti is a fine vise. 

The trouble with buying high end vises is that most of us can't try them out first.  It's not like the local box stores carry a full selection. I am fortunate to have Bears Den fly shop nearby. They are a very large fly shop and usually have the top of the line offerings from all of the major manufacturers sitting on the shelf.  It's the only place I know of where buyers can get a side by side comparison and make a decision about which one is best for them.  A high end vise is really a personal thing, more a decision about taste than function. I've never cared for the Regal or Norvise designs but I know people who wouldn't part with them for anything, I feel that way about my TRV.  It's all what you like.

 

I had a Norvise for a little while a few years ago and didn't really care for it either. I do have 2 Regal vises, both are the Regal Revolution models. One is the standard jaw and the other has the stainless jaw which  i really like but arthritis in my hands is starting to be a problem and squeezing open the jaws on the Regals are painful some days. I guess after tying for 45 years or so and tying 10's of thousands of flies commercially back in the day has taken its toll but I'm not giving in so easily. My hands are actually starting to feel better now that I stopped using the Regals for a few weeks. I do try and tie daily so I'm hoping I have many more tying days ahead.

I don't have any fly shops anywhere near me here in Texas like I had in Pennsylvania. I spent 50 years in Pa and sure do miss it at times. Back there between PA and NJ I had some great fly shops but there aren't any here within 90 minutes from me. Most don't carry top of the line vises either. 

Here is a pic of the first fly off the Master. "The Humpy".

[SilverCreek 0]

33 minutes ago, XPATier said:

6500

Thank you. That's a lot of Renzetti Masters sold.

My vice is #376 and Gary Borger's is #007 which seems appropriate.

[DFoster 0]

19 hours ago, XPATier said:

I had a Norvise for a little while a few years ago and didn't really care for it either. I do have 2 Regal vises, both are the Regal Revolution models. One is the standard jaw and the other has the stainless jaw which  i really like but arthritis in my hands is starting to be a problem and squeezing open the jaws on the Regals are painful some days. I guess after tying for 45 years or so and tying 10's of thousands of flies commercially back in the day has taken its toll but I'm not giving in so easily. My hands are actually starting to feel better now that I stopped using the Regals for a few weeks. I do try and tie daily so I'm hoping I have many more tying days ahead.

I don't have any fly shops anywhere near me here in Texas like I had in Pennsylvania. I spent 50 years in Pa and sure do miss it at times. Back there between PA and NJ I had some great fly shops but there aren't any here within 90 minutes from me. Most don't carry top of the line vises either. 

Here is a pic of the first fly off the Master. "The Humpy".

Terry If arthritis is an issue with your hands than I would say you made the best choice.  A cam lever requires the least amount of effort to clamp a vise.   The TRV isn't too bad, on size 12 to 28 the TRV knob requires minimum force to tighten. I roll my thumb forward to tight and then take my right hand and go a quarter turn past that.   On large hooks #2 and up it's even easier, just roll my thumb forward and the radial grooves grab the hook.  Where you may have had an issue is with medium size hooks.  10's to 4's are to small to fit in the radial grooves so they require a good snug turn on the knob to get them to hold.   I can do it easily but I don't have arthritis.  

  I learned how to tie from watching  Davie McPhail and Oliver Edwards videos and they both use the LAW vise.  That's probably why I'm partial to the TRV.  As far as I know HMH is the only company, small though they may be, that produces this style vise.  I know there are several people in Europe making high quality LAW copies, essentially in a home work shop as Lawrence himself did.  But unless you know someone with one the only way to try one is to place an order.  When your talking a grand plus shipping that's a bit to risky for me.  Recently FNF, a company in Scotland started producing the "Talon" which is just becoming available through some suppliers in the U.S. It list for $900.

A perfectly tied Humpty- Nice work!