Experience with inexpensive H&H vises?

[greyfox]

My DK Voyager developed a problem which required it be sent back to the factory for repair. Ordinarily not too big a deal, but I have some flies due for an upcoming swap and doubt I'll get my DK back in time. I've always had good luck and great service from sponsor H&H and was wondering if any of their inexpensive vises are worthy of consideration. Does anyone have experience with any of their house-brand vises? That little rotary vise looks especially interesting.

Thanks,
Will

[waynep]

My DK Voyager developed a problem which required it be sent back to the factory for repair. Ordinarily not too big a deal, but I have some flies due for an upcoming swap and doubt I'll get my DK back in time. I've always had good luck and great service from sponsor H&H and was wondering if any of their inexpensive vises are worthy of consideration. Does anyone have experience with any of their house-brand vises? That little rotary vise looks especially interesting.

Thanks,
Will

Not sure if this qualifies for your definition of inexpensive but I have one of the HMH Spartan vices, and love it.

[chavez]

If you meant HMH, I have the HMH Spartan and love that vise. I'll not part with it.

[mr. blur]

I'm fairly sure h&h = hook and hackle.

[Al Beatty]

Hi Will,

I have a couple of the E-Z Rotary Vises and they hold a hook well for an import vise. They are not my first choice to tie on but the price is reasonable. Cosmetics are definitely not as smooth as DK or Renzetti. If you just want a cheap vise to get through a few days and use as a backup you could also get the Super II Rotating Vise from H&H. Take care & ...

Tight Lines - Al Beatty
www.btsflyfishing.com

[greyfox]

waynep, chavez, mr.blur and Al,

Thanks for responding. To clarify, I was considering one of Hook and Hackle's inexpensive imports just to tide me over until I get my DK back.

Thanks again,
Will

[djo]

I have an H & H E-Z Rotary vise. It works but not well. After a few months I replaced it. Not expensive but not a good investment for me. Others have been happy.

David

[Gandolf]

Hi Grayfox,

The vise you are wondering about, the Super 11 rotating vise, was my first vise. I see the same vise in Cabelas, and it is probably in many other catalogs as well.

I would use it only as a back up vise, and it will do OK if you primarily tie flies in the #12 to #18 range. That said, the one I owned was a poorly made sorry vise. Whether the one I had was the exception or the rule, I don't know. However, the comments I a have read on another fly tying bulletin board over the years lead me to believe that virtually all of the cheap imported vises are in the same basic category.

I did, however, learn to tie on it, and after I did some work on it, it was servicable for about 2 to 2.5 years at which time it broke.

I have a used older Thompson "A", and it is a vastly better vise than was my Super 11. (I bought it on Ebay for about the same money (or prehaps a bit less)than the Super 11, and it came with a set of jaws for large hooks as well as the standard jaws.)

My thoughts about the vise are as follow:

It did OK at holding hooks in the #12 to #18 range.

The rotation feature worked reasonably well.

Even with #18 flies, the jaws are large enough to make access to the hook harder.

It started to have more difficulty holding hooks #10 and larger, and you could just barely get it to hold a #4. To hold a #4 you had to really raunch down on it.

Problems with the one I had were as follows:

1. When new, the shaft was so hard that you could not tighten the set screw down tight enough to hold it steady.
2. The knob on that screw came off all the time until I epoxyed it on. (A very poor fit.)
3. The set screw was so loose in its tapped hole that it would wobble.
4. When the set screw would no longer hold, I drilled it out tapped to a much bigger set screw size and used an Allen head set screw. (With the Allen set screw, if you tightened the tar out of it, it would finally hold the shaft steady, unlike the original set screw assembly which never did hold it steady.)
5.The bolt/nut assembly that held the angle of the head had to be tightened so tightly that it deformed before it would hold the head steady.
6. The threaded shaft that held the jaws had wall thickness which was too thin, in my opinion, and it finally broke, putting the vise out of it's misery.
7. The cam action was not very even.

In short, if given a choice between and old Ebay Thompson "A" and the Super 11, I would go for the Thompson every time.

By the way, if you buy a Thompson, buy one in the old red box. The newer ones in the light colored corrogated cardboard box are supposedly not as good as the older ones. A major supplier told me that Thompson started importing parts for their vises, and quality went down. That is why Thompson went under. Thus, buy the older vise in the red box, not the newer one in the light color corrogated cardboard box.

I have two Thompsons, and older "A" is a better vise than my newer rotating Thompson, IMHO. It holds the hook much better too.

Regards,

Gandolf

[LadyFisher]

The story I heard on Thompson's demise is a bit different. The old man retired and his daughter's husband took over. He designed the ill-fated Cobra Vise , and spent so much money on it he ran the company out of operating capitol and it died.

[Gandolf]

Hi Ladyfisher,

Thanks for your comment. I do not know the facts, and probably should have not made the comment.

My source also told me, as you mention, that the Son in Law of the founder was the problem. (He told me he knows the son in law.) His view of the problem was imported parts.

I do not know, of course, which version is true, and probably should not have made the comment.

Thanks and regards,

Gandolf