I’ve watched several video’s of the Nor-Vise, but they all zoomed in to the fly and don’t show the shaft end opposite the jaws. What makes the vise spins so fast? Does Mr. Norlander just spin it with their fingers?
This vise is intriguing, but it comes with the small jaws which only go up to a size #2 hook. The ‘Large’ jaws at $95 extra says “for any size hook or fly…can be used with very tiny hooks…” . So whats the purpose of the ‘small’ jaws to begin with? If this aint a way to get an extra $100 right out of the gate…? And unless you make your own base, which would be easy for many do-it-yourselfers, you have to buy a base or special c-clamp extra.
I don’t know how anyone else feels, but these 2 items seem like they might not have been the best marketing strategies. $300 for the vise is pushing it in the first place in my opinion, but if I have to buy the bigger jaws and a base before I can start tying on hooks bigger then a #2… The operational aspects of the vise I’m impressed with. The marketing involved, I’m not.
I agree that the packaging could be better. He does sell a good vise. There are a lot of vises that do a lot less for a lot more $ out there. unless I win one in a drawing somewhere Ill stick with my regal.
I have had a Nor-Vise for the past eight years or so and I would’t trade it for any other vise on the market, regardless of the price. You spin the Nor-Vise with your fingers on a knob at the end of the vise and it works great as the fly remains in-line to the spinning axis. I have the standard jaws that came with my Nor-Vise and I have never found a hook it wouldn’t hold from size 20 to size 4/0. When partnered with his retractable bobbins, it is a combination that can’t be beat. Simply put GREAT products with OUTSTANDING support. Well worth the money. IMHO
I received mine from a trade here with one of the guys here on the bb. It came with all the accessories except the lamp. Best trade I ever made. As mentioned above you turn the vise using the knurled arbor on the rear hub or you can spin the vise using either the front or rear hubs. The base can be made using a carving board and a drill. I picked one up at Bed, Bath & Beyond and used their 20% coupons and got a nice one for around $8. Works great! I find the small jaws for me work best with hook sizes as small as 22 to as large as 2/0. For smaller hooks you can’t beat the fine-point jaws. I rarely use the large jaws. The retractable bobbin is awesome. The vise takes a little getting used to, but well worth the learning curve. I love this vise, if for nothing else, making dubbing easier. I get dry, rough hands/fingers through fall and winter and dubbing the old fashion way is a real challenge, but not anymore.
I got mine last Christmas.
I’m still learning but one thing has been bothering me when tying on grubber hooks. I like to tye the pattern far down the bend, I find it difficult on the “standard” jaws.
Do I need to buy the fine point inline version for this work?
That’s where I seen the videos. I’ve watched many of Norm demonstrating the vise, but like I said, the camera zoomsin on the jaws and doesn’t show how the vise spins.
For you guys that have on, can you spin it as fast as Norlander does and still tie a decent fly?
While I have been tying on it for a while, I never try to “speed tie” any flies. I don’t do production tying. I tie because I enjoy it so I don’t really try to go fast. Can I spin it as fast as Norm, sure. Will the fly come out looking decent, probably, but I prefer to take my time and enjoy myself. Just my take on tying.
Thanks Jim, that’s was I was looking for. When he first ties on, and laying down a thread base I guess you can spin it fast, but after that, I was curious if other tying steps are really tied that fast. Of course HE should be proficient with his own design, but I was also curious if others really tie that fast.
I watched Mr. Norlander demonstrate his vise at the Pasadena, CA Fly Fishing Show a couple years ago. I must’ve watched for an hour while he spun and twirled and twisted dubbing and turned out about a hundred flys. I swear I don’t know how he does it. His is a truly remarkable machine and he is an awesome fly tyer. A few fellows in my club use the Norvise. One is very good and one is fair. Neither come close to Mr. Norlander.
We have several different makes and models of vises here and they all get used… My son immediately gravitates to the Nor-Vise and he is well beyond good. When Norm ties at the local Sports show he has my son tie for him to show folks he is not the only one that can tie ridiculously fast. Norm has been beyond generous to the Alaska Fly Fishers and even gave a talk one year at a meeting. He is entertaining, to be sure!
There is nothing you cannot do (in fly tying) on the Nor-Vise. There are a lot of things you cannot do on a lot of vises that the Nor-Vise handles easily. If you tie a lot of buggers and intruders and such you need a Nor-Vise. If you only tie small dries the Nor-Vise will not do a lot extra for you.
The automatic bobbins are required though, IMO…
Check with a cabinet shop for a sink cut-out in a very light color for the base. Usually they give them away and they work very well.
art
Yep thats what I did is went to a cabinet shop across the street and the guy just gave me a 3/4" x 8"x 21" sink drop and all I had to do was drill the holes for the vise and the bobbin and light rest.
I called Mr Norlander himself and he was Very kind and he is awesome!!!
If ya have any problems with the Vise,auto-bobbins,etc.,he will fix the problem pronto…like lighting fast shipping.
I have enjoyed mine so far…Highly recommend the Nor-Vise…No complaints here.
I came really close to buying a Norvise, and I still want a set of the bobbins…but:
I spin a lof of deer hair. I use the rotary feature of the vise to spin it. I can’t get the torque to do this well with just my fingertips on the spin control nubbin on the Norvise. I can with the reel type handle on my DynaKing.
If I only tied trout flies, the Norvise would be ‘the one’. I really like the speed that you can use to accomplish simple tasks like spinning dubbing, laying thread bases, etc. I considered modifying it, making a handle attachment that would give me more torque, something like that, but decided to trade some speed for a vise that would do all I required.
May still get one someday. I really like well designed tools, and this one seems to work exceptionally well for it’s intended tasks.
Buddy
I use the entire offside head of the Nor-Vise to gain torque for the rare times it is needed… The heavier version of the head is an advantage there, too. I believe you could easily bend heavy hooks with the heavier head.
art