I want to start tying flies and I think I am going to get the Griffen Spyder rotary vise. I don't want to spend much money, but I still want good tools. Some vises are over 500 bucks! I would rather spend a little more up front and get good stuff rather than go cheap now and get nice stuff later. Most of the the mid range rotary vises I have looked at are 100-200 bucks. If anyone has any thoughts it would be great. The Spyder vise is 85 bucks. It seems like a great deal on a pretty nice vise. Peak also makes a rotary for 150.00. Are griffen and Peak good brands. I expect this thing to last for years.
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I answered you on the Idaho post...LOL
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While Griffen does make good quality tools I think you will be happier with the performance of the peak in that price range. There is a reason that the renzetti traveler is one of the best sellers out there,they invented rotary, everyone else is mimicking them . At $85 you will not find better quality jaws than the Griffen. Jaws are the most important part of the vice.
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Stop ; spend the money on something else.
It starts out buying just enough to get by- you can keep it all in a tackle box or small rubber maid conatiner.
Then your wife or whom ever complains about not putting it away and not cleaning up afterwards. Then you decide you need a bigger area- a table- yeah that's it a table with maybe some shelves. Or better yet a roll top desk- more $$$. You end up taking over a corner of the basement or an entire room with cork boards , 3 sets of special lights- 12 different bobbins, 5 sets of hackle pliers, 3 different sized hair stackers, 2 large plastic boxes just for the different threads and 4 plastic boxes for hooks. You start adding jaws on your vise for #32 bunny midges and a set of jaws that can hold hooks for Marlins. You have enough packs of dubbings to make Peta think you have killed every rabbit west of the Rockies. You have 3 shelves that just hold hard bound books from the masters of fly tying and 2 more to hold the 3 magazines you get a month. You start talking in some other lanquage about hooks sizes , thread diameters and hackle quality. You start thinking about stopping on I 80 to cut a patch off a road killed badger. Life rotates around when can you get back to the "Bench"- talk of divorce- do I have enough for the #1 Hoffman or pay the rent ? Go back towards the light- stop before you start. Write it off as another foolish thought wave while you still can.
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truer words never spoke.
But, got to admit, that first fish of the year on a fly you not only thought of, but built......yeah baby.
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Or go for the gusto you only live once- well some of you- I'm coming back as a 20# cutt bow in Henrys with it's lips sewn shut just to piss FG off. (0:
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No biggie, there s always the gills and foul hooking![laugh][shocked]
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I think I am going with the Renzetti Travler. It doesn't come with extras but the reviews on it are perfect, and it seems like a lifetime vise. 190.00 is more than I was wanting to pay but i think it is worth it.
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Well, mine is going on 20 years and only replaced the "O" ring once.
And for the record, it should come with the bobbin holder. I bought an extended body attachment for another vise that works fine and was cheap.
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[quote packfish]Ouchhhhhhhhh[/quote]
No, no...they swim away, so they are okay[
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[quote Soft_Plastics]I think I am going with the Renzetti Travler. It doesn't come with extras but the reviews on it are perfect, and it seems like a lifetime vise. 190.00 is more than I was wanting to pay but i think it is worth it.[/quote]
Good choice - I noticed on another BFT forum you were concerned about not having a pedestal. You can always buy one cheap (seems most vises use the same diameter post) or you can make a travel kit like I did that holds the C-clamp. Cherry with cedar insets to scare away the moths...
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Awwww! Thats just the cheap stuff! I am framing a 12' x 16' fly tying room as we speak.
Good choice on the Traveler you would have ended up with it in the future. Out of all the vises I sold they were the least problematic.
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[inline "travel kit.JPG"]
In case you are interested in mounting the C-clamp in a travel box.
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Nice...is that cedar?
That would be so clean. No dropping hooks or material on the floor, just in the box.
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The top/bottom of the box is 1/4" cherry plywood, rest of the box is solid cherry, and the top is lined with cedar slats from a closet system. I haven't had any problems with moths since I went to cedar and ziplock bags for all my materials.
yes, all the dropped hooks and material cutoffs just fall into the box. Now and again I vacuum it out. When I go on trips, I pack enough stuff in the box to tie likely patterns. That Renzetti vise has been a champ.
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I noticed the rubber band. When my O ring finally broke, I e-mailed Renzetti to ask what size, they sent me like 5 at no charge....that was awhile ago, but worth a try.
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O rings are easy to find most hardware stores have sections that they keep odds and end nuts,screws,fasteners etc. in boxes I used to buy a bunch to keep on hand at the store. Home depot,Ace,Lowes,bolt and nut supply.
Usually $.05 to $.10
Soft Plastics: just buy it with the base,they do come that way.
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Now someone told me once that their (Renzetti) are different from the store brand in that they last longer. The fact mine lasted for over 10 years and it goes with me everywhere.
Not that it would matter I guess if you had plenty of back ups.
And it is probably just a bunch of whoie anyway...LOL
I did try the hardware brand also and they did crack, that is when I contacted Renzetti. Had this one on for over 8 years now and no cracks.
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I didn't see any different cracking issues,maybe you got a hold of some old ones.
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