properties of a good vise

[Allison]

What makes a vise ideal? What should I look for in finding the right vise for me?

Are there any that do not work for lefties?

I'm thinking small pointy jaws and full rotary function are the only really important things. What am I missing?

[sharpshooter223]

the main points i look for is if it will hold hooks or not. if it doesnt hold hooks then i usually try to get a different one.

[traditionalist]

What makes a vise ideal? What should I look for in finding the right vise for me?

Are there any that do not work for lefties?

I'm thinking small pointy jaws and full rotary function are the only really important things. What am I missing?

The two most important considerations are that it should hold the hooks you wish to dress your flies on securely, and allow you sufficient access to do it.

Just about everything else is basically irrelevant. Some things are nice to have, but not necessary. Quality tools are invariably better than cheap tools, but the suitability of any particular vice to your requirements is not necessarily related to the price.

For many many years, people dressed flies without using vices at all.

If you would like to see some reviews of vices from acknowledged experts, then have a look here;

http://www.flyfisherman.com/ftb/hwvise/

Reviews for 2007 will also be up at some point.

[Kent Lufkin]

Besides the good points already mentioned above, I'm not as keen on the rotary function as I once was. Why? I almost never use it except to see what the fly looks like from the other side (if I'm wrapping tinsel, for instance, it lets me easily make sure the wraps are uniform on both sides.) If you're really interested in a rotary vice, then go all the way and get a Nor-Vice.

Was me, I'd look around for a Renzetti Traveler with the newer cam jaws and the pedestal base. They're never discounted so don't waste time trying to find one for a few dollars less. If paying less than MSRP is important to you, then look for one used on eBay.

K

[scottflycst]

iagree been beating on a Renzetti for several years, ain't broke it yet. You can spend more money but you won't get better value.
Scott

[Allison]

The Renzetti Traveler is $180. Too steep for my blood. There's got to be something decent out there for under a C note. I have a lot going on in my life and can't justify that much money for something I'm going to use intermittently.

What about non-rotating models? I was just going for roatary so I wouldn't have to flippem over to work on ythe underside and so it's easier to look at the "away" side.

[Sloan Craven]

I have a PEAK vise and I think its a good deal for the price. It's a rotary vise. It's no Renzetti, but it's a solid rotary vise.

[FT]

As Sloan mentioned, the PEAK vise is very good and sells for under $100.00. Don't worry about some of its parts being made of delrin (a type of plastic) and not being the nicest looking vise out there. It is very well designed, holds hooks very well (which is the most important feature of a tying vise), is rotary, easy to adjust for different hooks, and a best buy and great value.

When you have more cash to spend, you can look into getting a Dyna King Barracuda or a Renzetti Master or P4000. In the meantime, get the PEAK, you won't be unhappy with it.

Another one you might take a look at is the Griffin Oddesey. I think it sells for about $95.00. It also isn't the prettiest to look at, but it holds hooks with a vengence (as does the PEAK), is very well made, rotary, will last a lifetime, and a great value.

[rodeo11]

I just bought the PEAK vise about 2 months ago and it was $150 everywhere, and I think it still else unless I am mistaken. Anyways I have really enjoyed tying on it and see no plans to change vises in the future. Very well made and if you can get it I would suggest it.

Jason

[traditionalist]

The Renzetti Traveler is $180. Too steep for my blood. There's got to be something decent out there for under a C note. I have a lot going on in my life and can't justify that much money for something I'm going to use intermittently.

What about non-rotating models? I was just going for roatary so I wouldn't have to flippem over to work on ythe underside and so it's easier to look at the "away" side.

If you want a good vice with rotary capabilites and at a very reasonable price, then go for the Danvise at 80$. Al Beatty handles it. For a 150$ you can get a complete tying station.

http://www.btsflyfishing.com/catalog/page4-5.htm

http://www.hatchesmagazine.com/review/1

I have one, use it a lot, and I like it. I also have a number of other vices, much more expensive than this one. The flies I dress are the same! :)

[Cliff]

I bought my Peak vise from Jimmy LeMert last year. I think I paid $160. It's a beautiful tool, and I really like the heavy base with the white powder coating. I'm still fairly new at fly tying, but I have to admit that my ancient POS Sri Lanka Thompson ripoff I bought at Warshalls in the 1980s would have worked just as well, at least for the flies I've tied thus far. But it's more fun tying on the Peak vise. I don't know if the rotary function is really necessary for me, but I wanted it anyway.

If you (Allison) are looking for a vise with rotary function for under a Hund I would definitely look at the Danvise. A guy in one of my fly tying classes had one and he loved it. It has a lot of features for the price.

Cliff

ps -if you want me to bring my Peak to a meeting for you to borrow, let me know. That's WHEN I show up, tho.

[kodiaksalmon]

So Allison, you're a lefty? Me too. Worry not. Most vises work just fine with a Southpaw. I would say ALL, but I don't know that ALL in fact do, so I won't say that. But I'd be comfortable saying that 98% of them do for sure.

When I was in the market way back when, I looked at the Griffin vises too. They fit my budget and looked well-done. Well, I bit the bullet and went with the Dyna-King Barracuda and have never looked back.

A general rule in vises is to buy the best you can afford and not look back. Don't gotta break the bank, and price isn't everything. But skimp and try to save money, when you can really afford another $30 or $50 and get a better vise, and you'll be wishing you had gone with next vise up that was in your price range.

Alot of guys tie just fine on $20 vises, but nicer quality and features just make things easier and a less stressful.

Jeff

[P-FITZ98]

Ive always loved the Regal.Holds everything tight.

[troutpocket]

Hey Allison - another lefty tier here. As you've probably figured out, Regal, Renzetti and Dyna-King are all great choices for a vice you can use forever. I don't have any experience with a Danvise but they look well put-together and will probably work great for any trout flies you might need. My take on high-end vises is they hold a sz 20 hook equally as well as a 3/0. Lower end vises that I've tried do well with mid-sized hooks but crap out on really small and really big.

If you look around you'll find used vises on Ebay and some shops. I've had good luck buying from other forum members. My first "good" vise was a Dyna-King squire. It wasn't full rotary but I tied for a few years on it then moved on to a used Barracuda (full rotary) that I picked up at a winter sports expo at 50% off. I really like rotary for wrapping hackles, dubbing brushes, ribbing, adding rubber legs, etc.

Rod

[mozart]

Alison,

I tie on a Danvise with the extension arm. It's a great vise and it's very affordable. The extension arm is another $20 added to the price of the vise but well worth it. One thing that I do not like about it, for me, it's a little difficult to tie the tails on small dry flies. But other than that, the hook holding power is great and the rotary function is great.

[Mike Etgen]

Allison...

I'll throw in my two coins for a DanVise, and I'm also a lefty. However, I don't have the extension arm mentioned. You can usually pick one up for less than full retail on eBay, though I purchased mine retail from the shop I took my early lessons from. I'm going on five years tying and have been fully satisfied from day one.

[Randy Diefert]

I think the most important factor in buying a vise is the warrantee that comes with it. Second is the customer satisfaction.
while I do own a Renzetti vise, I find that the Griffin and Nor-vise have better customer appreaciation and warrantee service. I've never had a question with either of them which I can't say for Renzetti.
It seems as though the smaller guys just appreaciate your business better...
go figure.

[wdc]

renzetti traveler with the cam jaws....look on here or on ebay for a deal....left handed is available, but i'm left handed too and use a regular right hand one...

[Allison]

I got my "highly recommended by the guy on ebay" no-name vise in the mail today. Grabs the hooks nice and solid, death grip, but then there's the minor detail about how the c-clamp doesn't grab the stem solidly enough. Ebay guy swears by this vise, but damn I'm a noob and it's still wobbly as hell.

Returning the vise and sucking up 15$ in shipping, and getting a danvise. I'm an idiot, learn from my mistake!

[mozart]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune with the vise. At least he'll take a return on it. Now maybe you can go with my "Highly recommended seller on eBay"? :)

[nb_ken]

If you're looking at a vise with a cam lever, there are no differences between left and right handed models. Renzetti's first rotary vises used thumb screws to adjust and tighten the jaws. They had different left and right handed models so the screws were on the front depending on which ways the jaws faced.

I mentioned on another thread that I tied on one of those early Renzetti Travelers for several years. Nice enough vise, good hook holding, but the rotary part was always coming loose. I was constantly retightening the various nuts and screws. Drove me crazy. Finally drove me to sell the thing.

True rotary has its advantages, and I miss it some. But in reality, I used it more for inspection than I did as an aid to tying. It doesn't take much longer to manually spin a half-dozen wraps of hackle or a dozen wraps of dubbing.

I think if I was to go back to a rotary vise, I'd wait until I could afford a Barracuda or Norvise or Renzetti Presentation. Seems to me there's too many moving parts to be able to manufacture one cheaply.

Right now I use an HMH Spartan. It's just a big hunk of hook-holding metal. Nothing cheap about any of the parts or the machining. It rotates enough for inspection, but other than that, all it does is grab hooks and keep things steady.

[Allison]

Yes, I plan to.