Vice issues

[Rgary53]

I have a very poor vice but I can't yet bye a new one everytime I put a hook on it seems to be to loose and thevice keeps spining or its perfect and i can't get it to spin any advice.

Ryan

greenflyman@yahoo.com

[Greg H]

What brand and model of viSe do you have?

[fritz]

SOUNDS LIKE YOU BOUGHT A "KNOCK-OFF". TO TAKE IT TO A MACHINE SHOP FOR FIXING ISN'T WORTH THE MONEY. BUY A BRAND NAME VICE. IT WILL LAST YOUA LIFE-TIME

[Rgary53]

i got a vice that came with a pack that got me started so yea dont really no what i got myself into
thanks for the advice
Ryan

[RG/AR]

If you want a do-everything vise at a decent price, buy a DanVise. It will do everything you need it to do at the cost of being terminally ugly, and crowding your non-tying hand. Other than that, they are very functional vises.

[caibill]

I agree that the best value on a vise is the Danvise. It IS butt-ugly but a great vise.

RG/AR: If you buy an extension arm it eliminates the crowding situation for the non-tying hand.



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I fly fish the salt because the voices in my head tell me to...

caibill,

I've looked on the net, and can't find the extension arm. Where do you find them?

I looked at Al's, but didn't see the extension arm. I already have a Danvise and like it a lot, but that extension arm looks like a good little add on. BTW, I e-mailed him to see if he might possibly carry it but just didn't list it online. Hopefully Al has one.

[Newfoundlander]

I disagree with Fritz to a degree, I bought a Sunrise Eagle(Regal Knockoff) back in 2001 and it still holds hooks like the day I bought it, but since it is the only one I have ever owned, I may have been lucky. It will bend or break a hook before it releases it's grip.

Best investment I ever made, I also bought a Danvise but I found the backend to cluttered to be comfortable, but I never gave much time for myself to become accustomed to it either, this was before the extension arms, this vise also held hooks like a champ.

later
Mike

[AlanB]

How tight does a hook have to be held in order to tie a fly? So long as the hook does not move under the weight of the bobbin hanging just behind the eye of the hook I find it secure enough for most operations. You can always exert more force at 90 degrees to the opening of the jaws than you do in line with the jaw opening. So long as you can achieve this I would stick with it for now.

My travel vice doesn't even have hardened jaws but so long as I am aware of this I don't tighten it so much as to deform the jaws it is not a problem. Before we had vices flies where tied with the hook held between finger and thumb. No one can bend a hook using this grip but the flies where perfectly serviceable.

Do you really need the rotary facility? For years I tied on a fixed vice. I still do from time to time. These days I use a full rotary vice and love it but it is hardly essential.

I tried a Danvice that one of my students had. I couldn't tie on it and neither could he. To tie a fly you need to get access to the hook! This is severely limited on the Danvice. Try tying the tail on a pupa that extends around the bend, you can't get your fingers in to do a pinch and loop.

There is a lot of engineering goes into a quality full rotary vice. They can't be gotten on the cheap. If you want quality and to keep the cost down the only area left to compromise on is the functions of the vice.

Many people have said to me,
"If I was still in engineering I could make a vice like that (Dyna-King) in my lunch times. It wouldn't cost that much."

Some of these people where probably good enough engineers to do it as well. But, they couldn't set up and operate a workshop producing vices paying all the bills from what they sell the vices for and sell them one penny cheaper than the vice manufacturers sell them for.

There are inexpensive vices on the market that will give years of good service, however they are not going to be the latest designs with all the functions available on the more expensive models.

Strangely enough I have never seen a tier at one of the shows using a Danvice. Admitted some tiers do get good vices supplied but most don't. I didn't have to cough up for my current vice but the three previous ones I had cost me full price. (I paid in sterling but around $1000US).

(Just in case you are wondering "vise" isn't listed as an English word in the Oxford English Dictionary that is why I use "vice")

Cheers,
Alan.

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"