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[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3][cool][/size][/green][/font][font "Poor Richard"][size 3][green]There hasn't been much discussion about tying vises so I will get one going. It is not too likely that a new comer to the field of tying sprung for a $400 or $500 vise to get started. The price range for a vise is considerable from under $50 to over $600. My first and only vise a Dyna-King Kingfisher came in a starter kit which cost me $129. The vise by itself regularly sells for $129 so I thought that it was a good deal.[/green][/size][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][size 3][green]Which one was your first vise? Have you replaced it yet? If money wasn’t an object which vise would you choose?[/green][/size][/font]
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[black][size 3]Back when the earth and I were young, I started with a vice that was stamped from some type of metal, and worked with a thumb press cam action. Next I bought a Thompson A vice, and used it for several years. I them graduated to a Regal, and have used it for about 15 years.[/size][/black]
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[size 3]I have never tied on a rotary vice, but I think that I would like to get one if I start tying more often.[/size]
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[size 3]There appears to be many good rotary vices on the market at present. I understand that the Traveler is a good choice at a reasonable price.[/size]
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... the vise I currently have came with a kit I bought at a local fly shop.. the total cost of the kit was 60.00 and the only thing I can say for sure is it has a thumb cam on it.. it works well for me right now...
.. I am looking at two different vises to upgrade.. both of which are reasonably priced rotary vises. one is the Griffin spider vise and the other is a danvise as listed on the cabelas site..... both look to be great vises but thru discussions with a few people I am leaning toward the griffin vise.. it looks to be more versatile in as much as I can use it on a pedestal or on a clamp.. I am not sure the danvise will allow that in as much I think that vise has to be ordered as an either or type of situation..
... I am looking to use the gift card I won a while back on this vise but at the same time I want to upgrade my tools and get some basic materials (thread, floss, flasabou, dubbing etc) in as well.. so may buy the vise at the local fly shop and use the gift card on tools and supplies.. any suggestions on which way to go, the pros and cons of the vises, and materials/tools to order in ...
MacFly [cool]
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I have a Danvise. I don't think that you can buy a danvise with a table top base. When I got mine there only was the clamp-on base. But I know that some people have bought a table top base from another manafacturer's line and drilled out the hole to accept the Danvise stem. (I would bet that Strouds Tackle has some bases) Or you could make you own base out of wood that you clamp onto. Or take some kind of chunk of metal drill a hole for the vise stem. Then drill and tap a hole for screw to tighten against the stem.
I like my Danvise just fine. It is what I use for all of my tying. I started out with a very cheap vise in a kit that quickly gave up. I moved on to an inexpensive Griffin clamp base vise but I kept having problems getting and keeping the correct jaw tension on hooks. So I then got the inexpensive Danvise. I use it all the time for flies down to size 26. It will hold smaller I just don't tie smaller. It will hold Hooks for ocean fishing great also. I have not had the need up to now to do those size hooks.
If I wanted to spend several hundred dollars I would buy one made out of all those cool shiney metal ones. I just love finely machined and finished stuff. That may have something to do with running a machine shop at one time.
Unless you are going to be tying hundreds of flies smaller than size 20 at a time I think you will be quite satisfied with a Danvise. It operates reliably and smoothly. It is very sturdy. When tying the small stuff some times I want a little more clearance around the the back of the fly. But it really is not a problem. If i was tying hundreds of flies at a time it might leave me with wanting a different vice for the small stuff. At the same time the design of the jaws and the fact that it rotates give you a nice way to hang spooled wire and ribbons, which are on a bobbin, out of the way while you tie the rest of a fly.
I wanted a clamping base because when I used a table stand model I would pull too hard on the thread. It would cause the vise to tip forward and or rotate towards me. I found it very agrevating because it always happened at least once in a tying session. But the draw back to a table clamping base is that some tables have scuptured edges so that the vice will not clamp well on the edge of the table. My work around has been to have a piece of wood hanging off the table that I clamp the vice onto and then put a heavy weight on the wood and maybe also clamp the wood onto the table edge with a couple of C clamps. If you do not think you will be continuely taking your vise to different friends's house then it probably is going to be a none issue.
The Danvise is very light to lug around as opposed to a vise with a heavy metal base.
I don't know anything about the other vise you are looking at.
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hey DR... are you talking about plastic to replace parts of the vise.. or the vise pedestal that you found??
MacFly [cool]
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It has always been a plastic vise. It was designed in plastic to keep the price down. The metal parts are the ball bearings (the race for the bearings probably are metal also but I have not taken it apart to know), Jaws, stem shaft and screws. I can not remember what kind of plastic it is. More like a phenolic than what most people think of as plastic. Quite stiff and rigid. Very stout.
Most plastic things I don't care for because they just don't stand upto hard use, abuse and age. This vise has what it takes.
The only plastic part that might be able to wear would be the cam lever mechanism. It has not worn any.
The vise jaws work off a falcrum principal. The instructions say that you can apply so much force you can break the metal jaws. I have managed to not apply that much force though.
Thanks for the link. I forgot about this third party base that you can now buy.
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That table top base looks like a standard one that you can buy for other vises but I did not think there was enough weight to the base.
There were a couple of other bases I saw at the Sportsman's Warehouse that were somewhat heavier than what I remember the one pictured as being. I saw a number of other bases that I did not think had enough weight and/ or foot print for what I thought was needed. This was a couple years ago now.
There are not any Sportsman's warehouses in California though.
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[cool][#005000]Thanks for the clarification regarding the plastic parts used in that vise.[/#005000]
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...Im telling ya .. there are just tooooooooooooooo dang many choices ... it is making this newbie head spin around and around like that girl on the Exorcist... Im starting to get dizzy just thinking about it.....
MacFly [cool]
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Try this article on for size:
[url "http://flyfisherman.com/ftb/hwvise/"]http://flyfisherman.com/ftb/hwvise/[/url]
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...good basic info from what I saw.. but it is really apparent that this author really likes the hmh line of vises.. so not sure of his overall objectivity.. more like he kept comparing everything to the hmh vise instead of rating on each individual vises pros and cons.. ..
seemed to the two I am looking at the danvise according to this author is better.. but according to a closer source of mine the griffin would be better for me.. now do you all see my confusion.. [sly]
MacFly [cool]
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It has been a couple three years since I read the article but I think they were basing things against HMH vice because that vice has been held up for years as an excellent midpriced vice.
You are not going to get a clear cut answer because there is so much subjectivity in it all. You are just going to have reread what guys have wrote trying interperet where they are coming from and why and then relate it to what you think you are going to be using it for and just how much tying you think you are going to be doing.
The biggest subjectivity to face is your own on this one.
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I doubt there it is a bad decision to getting either one. Probably, the bad decision would be to stick with the one you unless you don't think you will do much tying.
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... [sly].. now that bad decision part is probably true.. I dont know if I told you or not but I had to use some wd40 on the knob to adjust the tension of the vise just to make it move smoothly.. I could understand that if I had this out in the garage.. but it is put away in the family room near my chair.. no excess moisture there that I know of...[crazy]
MacFly [cool]
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[black][size 3]Just my two cents worth, but, you may want to give a close look at the Renzetti Traveler.[/size][/black]
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[size 3]Many people use this vice, and I have never heard a bad word about this vice. It is reasonable in price, and seems to work very well for vices in that price range.[/size]
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[size 3]In fact, I think that before FG got her outer-space vice, she tied on a Traveler. She would be able to give you some good input on this item.[/size]
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