After about 10 years, the first vice I bought and learned to tie on broke. I was tying up some poppers, cranking on the GSP and the offside jaw broke. The vise was a Renzetti Presentation 2000 and was starting to show her age. She served me well but its time to move on. No replacement jaws for her...just an easy retirement as a paperweight, catching my glances every now and then and providing memories.
I imagine this is a dumb question but do you have multiple vises (i thought you had a damascus steel vise, which is way awesome btw)? Are certain ones better for tying particular flies or something?
Yes I have multiple vises (just two)....the Renzetti and the Damaseal. Think of it this way....when I was little, I had my play clothes, school clothes, and my Sunday's best. The Damaseal is my Sunday's best and the Renzetti was my play clothes. While you could play a bit in your Sunday's best you wouldn't want to for long.
depending on what you're tying and what you've got to 'invest', the cottarelli vise is an eye catcher. comes with single or double jaws (for big hooks)
Take two steps forward to the Presentation 4000. Been using one for the past 15 -20 years and got it used for about half retail price. Not as elaborate as the Master and does not have as many compromises to meet a price point as the Traveler series. I just noticed that they now make a midge jaw for the 4000 although I don't have a problem tying midges with the standard jaws.
Take two steps forward to the Presentation 4000. Been using one for the past 15 -20 years and got it used for about half retail price. Not as elaborate as the Master and does not have as many compromises to meet a price point as the Traveler series. I just noticed that they now make a midge jaw for the 4000 although I don't have a problem tying midges with the standard jaws. TC
The only thing that I don't like about the 4000 is not having a hinged rotary arm. I use the rotary function a lot and having the hook rotate out of round is a peeve of mine. I realize you can take out the screw and adjust but having the hinged arm just seems so much more efficient to me. This somewhat limits me to another 2000 or the Master. Considering how much tying I am doing and plan to do the Master may be the way to go. I'm still struggling with justifying the price difference between the two.
Hey, I bought a new vise a few months ago that I saw on this site. It's a dandy! I'll sell it to you cheap!! (just don't go back and read my reviews of the POS)
I agree, time to join the Jvice crew, they're no Damascus, but I still smile every time I sit down in front of mine. I was scared I was going to have buyers remorse, but almost two years later and its still my favorite piece of FF equipment I've bought. Although, I did just get off the phone with Tim at Speyco this morning.....
Big E,
Considering the amount of tying you do and also that you do a lot of rotary tying, I would suggest that the J-Vice (in its present configuration) is not the vise for you.
Overall, it is a wonderful vise with absolutely great jaws. However, it has a design flaw in that the knurled wheel which controls the rotary tension also serves to position the shaft in the vise housing. So, if the wheel is loosened sufficiently for rotary tying, the tyer must remember to re-tighten the wheel (and there is a "sweet spot") after using the rotary function otherwise the shaft will wobble and bounce with each wrap of thread. Additionally, the rotary function is not as free wheeling as it could be. It needs to be on a bearing. The current design would benefit from the addition of a way of maintaining the shaft position in the housing independent of the rotary tension adjustment. It would also benefit from the incorporation of a bearing instead of the plastic? friction bushings used. I recall that my Renzetti Presentation 3000 (Renzetti's first, I think, from the 1970's) had these features.
I do like the J-Vice jaws. If I had it to do all over again, I would have purchased just the J-Vice jaws and built the rest of the vise myself.
Considering the obvious quality, appearance, and great jaws of the J-Vice, it is a shame that it wasn't taken a step further by the originator.
Be glad to give you a demonstration.
Jack
I have a dynaking that I really don't like. it wont hold a hook for crap. paid $200 for it and got ripped off. they sell for $400 new. if some sucker wants it for $200 come get it. it looks real nice. mikie w
The DynaKing Barracuda (Barracuda Jr if you want to save a few dollars) is a terrific rotary vise with the hook indexing feature you are looking for. I bought my Barracuda the first year the hit the market, have tied around a million flies on it, and have never had a problem. If you are tying flies smaller than a #10, get a set of "midge jaws" with it and you will have no trouble at all holding hooks from #6 all the way down to #32 (if you really have a desire to tie something that minute) with zero hook slippage. The serrated jaws of DynaKing are wonderful, and if you tie larger hooks, the "standard jaws" with their two different hook pockets milled into the jaws are the bomb. Best $325.00 I spent on a tying tool.
I waffled from vise to vise for several years until I got my Renzetti Apprentice. I meant to get it just as a traveling vise, but it does such a good job I've had no reason to get anything else.
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