Great vise! I use one when I tye the freshwater flys, or when I need to use a rotary vise. One thing I have found with the Griffin is that it does not hold the larger hooks that have the Tin finish, they tend to slip when using pressure, such as spinning deer hair, but for that, I use a Regal Medallion.
i guess im a little late on this one, but figured i would throw my 2 cents in anyway…
i have a griffin, i tie left handed, and although i haven’t sent it to them yet, there customer service is very good… they told me to simply send the vice to them, they pay return postage, and they will replace the jaws with lefty ones free of charge… the downside to that, i would be without my vice for a week…
let me know how you like the cam jaws, i was thinking about getting them myself…
really the only complaint i have with the vice is the plastic tensioner nuts, (to adjust handle, and pressure needed to rotate) to get it to my liking, i had to use pliers, (not thinking) almost stripped the heck out of em… obviously avoidable, but still disappointing. it sucks when your vice rotates a half turn, then the handle starts unscrewing… another thing is the cork topside of the table clamp, it seems to have compressed completely flat, allowing the vice to slip off the table, (thankfully that hasn’t actually happen yet) or at least twist and make your heart drop at the worse possible second… a strip of rubber corrected that problem…
as for the full rotary feature, i cant comment until i get the lefty’s, the closest i can get is a circle (rather then a flat spin) the width of one side of the clamp arm’s…
and just for the sake of agreeing with a few other posters, the rotary feature is “optional,” on rotary vices, you may one day want it, so why not have it, its also great for making sure the backside, and underside, are coming along nicely… and if you feel you need the tip of the jaws a little higher for easier hand placement, the clip for adjusting the jaws up and down can be flipped, and amazingly enough can be placed nearly vertical, however the rotary feature would be rendered pointless, but on small flies it does help to have that little extra room.
the pro’s out do the con’s for me on this vice, it has served me well for the short period ive owned it. im a little rough with this vice, i actually snapped a hook spinning deer hair, i was new at spinning, and using Kevlar thread, over torqued the heck out of it by the eye… point is, the jaws didnt slip or release, they held strong. its a pretty solid vice for the price in my opinion.
on another note, i have access to a machine shop, and am working on a design for a new vice. its going to be able to conform to any position. one of my biggest issues with almost all vices, is the main shaft is stationary,(vertical) and ive found it sometimes just gets in the way… a “tilt,” feature would be nice… but this is for another thread…
ok, im done rambling… surprised anyone is still reading this far down… lol
like i said, a little late on the post, but what the heck,
-spoof
… one more thing… make sure you clean and oil regularly, the oils in your hands will eventually cause that nice black finish to rust…
try placing the barb lower it the jaws, basically hide the barb altogether. then when tightening, instead of clamping flat on the hook, (=) try more pressure toward the barb,(<) i can clamp up to a 4/0 tin coated (never tried anything bigger!) with the stock jaws.
however using a secondary vice is just as easy.
-spoof
I’m glad I paid the extra money and got the cam jaws. They are great. Easy to use.