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Fly Tying
Mike West

What vise should I get..?

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Ya know this gets asked here all the time.

I just wanted to share a recent experience I had. Little background on me.

I’ve been trying for 50+ years, I started with a Thompson’s model B.

I tied hundreds and hundreds of flies for Dan Bailey with that vise. Mostly just three different kinds Hornburgs, Muddler minnows and marabou streamers. Was is it the best vise for the job,? hell no, Hooks slipped  in it all the time but I made it work.

later on in life I was able to save enough money to buy the vise of my dreams. I quit my real job and supported a family of eight tying flies with this vise.

fast forward to the other day. my kids at some time used it and physically damaged it(Got the doe in the headlight look when I asked who did it) I contacted the vendor and told him I wanted to send it in for a refurbished/repair gave a little brief history on it I said fine send it in it’ll be 35 bucks.

About a week later I get a phone call from Karen asking me what the hell did I do to this vise they they never seen one in such disarray and damaged. I just told her to do what you Gotta do I want it like new and she informed me it be a little bit more than quoted.

They also told me Ron was actually considering  keeping it and hanging it on the wall (the vise  was around 40 years old) and just giving me a new one.

They ended up repairing it, required one new part replacement completely polished it and re-greased it for $70. I bet I only greased that vise three times in it’s entire life.

I just got it back and it looks brand freaking new.

That vise is a Dyna-King Professional.

I think I got my moneys worth with this one.

just something to think about when you’re vise shopping.

😉

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@Mike West, great story. While my Dyna-King pro isn't as "storied" as yours I find it's all and more I need to tie whatever I'm tying.

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I'd like to hear how you supported a family of 8 tying flies? Did they have to tie flies for their keep? 

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52 minutes ago, Poopdeck said:

I'd like to hear how you supported a family of 8 tying flies? Did they have to tie flies for their keep? 

LOL...Yeah I know you tie commercially and know there’s no money in it.

I was kind of lucky. I was a cable TV technician making $8.25 an hour. I was able to weasel wholesale buying out of Waspi and my dad loaned me $2000 to get going...That was a lot of money to me at the time. Best I could figure out after all my overhead and everything I had averaged about $12 an hour tying flies. That was better than working for the cable company.

But that was after acquiring some very rich clients. I was selling deer hair bass flies to a couple shops in town for $40 a dozen... One was a high-end place. I got to be friends with the owner and his son and then they let me put flies up on display with my business card... they took one dollar for every fly so they took 12 bucks for every dozen... I raised my price to $60 a dozen and had more business then I could deal with in no time. I spent anywhere from 12 to 16 hours in front of that vise seven days a week....It turned my joy and hobby into something I dreaded so I went crawling back to the cable TV company....It turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me but that’s  an whole other story.

Now in this phase of  my life due to my health I was forced into early retirement and I’m on a fixed income. I’m in the process of restocking and organizing and building me a new man cave  in the garage. I’ll post it when I’m done with it.

I’m going to tie flies that I enjoy tying and the ones that work for me and put them on Ebay and in the classifieds  here and sell them. No taking of custom orders. Just tie every day watch TV and listen to music and enjoy my hobby. If I can make an extra $300-$500 a month I’ll be a happy man.

Edit: I can tell you this I’ve spent about $2500 just on fly tying materials in the last month getting ready for this.

I tried to get a wholesale license for Waspi again but you have to have a brick and mortar place now. Thought about getting a nice  engraved wood sign (Mike’s Flys) and hang it on my garage door and take a picture of it.

😉

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8 hours ago, Mike West said:

That vise is a Dyna-King Professional..

😉

Been tying from the early 1960s.  Mostly on a Thompson A.  When I started tying some saltwater stuff in the early 90’s I splurged on a Dyna-King Baracuda Indexer.  Great investment.  Still going strong 30 years later. 👌

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@Pbass  Here’s a 39 yr old Dyna King professional still looking and going strong. 

633DC31E-CCE7-4CE0-B1BF-46032874F4C5.jpeg

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