I would like to get a rotary vise and not wanting to spend lots of money, can you guys help me out on what a good vise for the money would be? Tanks, Travis
Get the best rotary vise that you can afford.
My favorite rotary happens to be a Nor-Vise. I have some Renzetti’s, Griffin’s, a Dan Vise, but, I tye on the Nor-Vise with a Midge Jaw Conversion kit 95% of the time.
Travis,
To get out of the ‘junk’ class you have to spend around $80 new. That’s for the DanVise and it’s a quality unit.
Most of the rest go up from there, the Griffins, Renzettis, DynaKings.
You’ll never regret spending the money to get a good quality tool, and if you learn to use it, you’ll never regret having a rotary vise.
Good Luck!
Buddy
Is that danvise the plastic looking one?
[SIZE=3]I was looking at the griffin odyssey cam vise, has anyone used one?[/SIZE]
I got one about six months ago. It’s a nice little vice, and I have had no problems with it.
I have a rezetti travler, great vise for the money. I belive it goes for around 160.00 or so. I had the danvise before, another good affordable rotary vise. After about a year on it, I had to replace the jaws… The rezetti is still strong after over three years…
garb72
There is a new HMH for sale in Things For Sale for a good price. I have a Griffin that I am very happy with. I will also agree with Buddy and say that when buying a new VICE or is it VISE (argue amongst yourselfs) that $80 is a good starting point for quality. If buying something used go with a name and hang out with the vise theif Ohiotuber he gets great deals.
I have both of these and after using them my first choice is the Renzetti Traveler with the Peak second.
The Renzetti is a pleasure to use and even nice to just look at.
A couple pluses for the Peak are that it is made in the U.S.A. and I feel more comfortable using it with larger hooks.
Both have good reputations and cost about the same. My personal feeling is that if you go over the price of these you are paying a premium for snob appeal. (Again, this is my personal feeling.)
i have the griffin oddysey spider vise and have had no problems with it. The only thing that I can put a con on is that the jaw arm sometimes slips and just have to push it up when using rotary function to get a true central spin. Just a little hiccup. Just takes a second to push up on the arm. paind $100 for it.
Renzetti is made in the U.S. also. After trying both at a show I picked the PEAK and never looked back. I tie to 26 with the standard jaws. If you can, try to tie on several before you buy. I still use my Thompson A - 40 years old and still working (unlike me).
mcsteff
I have a Peak rotary and I really enjoy it. It’s affordable, made in the USA, has a lifetime warranty, excellent customer service…and it works great! Can’t ask for much more than that.
I’ve been using the Danvise for about 3 years now, and its still going strong. It is the first (and only) vise I’ve owned. Its been GREAT to learn on. It has a clamp, which I’ve attached to numerous surfaces from wood desks to glass tables to car steering wheels. Never had any problems with it at all.
As I got my feet wet in the fly-tying arena, it fit my initial criteria of being good quality and easy on the wallet. I think there was a special going on when I bought it new for around $50.
So far I don’t have any reason to “upgrade”… but its good to hear such strong positive reviews for both the Peak and Renzetti vises. :o)
Buying a vise is a funny thing. You can buy the one you want know or later if you are like me. I bought a Danvise, nice product, not what I really wanted though. I wanted a nicer vise. I bought a Peak, not what I really wanted. It’s a nice product, just not what I wanted even the day that I bought it. I then bought a Dyna King Barracuda. Now tell me, did I save a dime?
If you buy something like a Peak or a Renzetti Traveler you can tie on it for the rest or your life if you are satisfied. It’s not that the tool won’t tie the fly, it’s about wanting something. For me I lessen the impact by saying that my daughter and I can tie together now. My wife also took a fly tying class this past winter. Someone comes over I have 3 vises. But not for a minute do I save I saved any money.
Truth is that if you want to save money, stop NOW. I see where you can buy flies for $.69 each from many big vendors or even less expensive. If you want to save money, just buy flies. If you want to make what you want to make when you want to make it, then tying is for you.
Good luck and have fun and remember, I told you so.
Just to add my thoughts to what Clay posted.
I ‘started’ with a cheap no name vise that was laying in a bin at a hardware store. $5 way back when. Just stamped steel and a couple of thumb screws. Worked for a while, but it wasn’t long before I’d bent it to beyond use.
Bought another ‘cheap import’ vise from a catalog. Knock off model A. Stationary vise. Still works, but not what I wanted for long term.
Got an Apex Anvil for a present. Nice vise, but not a true rotary. Tied on it for years before I made the change to a rotary vise. I looked at a lot of vises. At the time, I could afford whatever vise I wanted. I wanted to buy just ‘one more’.
I bought a custom Dynaking Barracuda. They added some features I wanted, took off some I didn’t. Cost with everything I wanted was around $400 ten years ago.
I’ll never need another vise. This one does everything I want, and has features that allow me to do many things that other rotary vises don’t.
By the way, I ‘use’ the rotary feature to tie flies. Just about all of them. And, it is absolutely amazing what that rotary feature can do, if you take the time to learn to use it. Most folks don’t, and if you aren’t going to use it, why pay for it?
Buddy
Clay is wise; listen to him.
mcsteff
i have a PEAK vise and I think it’s a lot of bang for the buck
garb72:
To answer your question; YES, it is the “plastic looking one”. The body is made of Delrin, the stuff football helmets are supposedly made of, and the jaws are metal.
Cheers
I was looking at the peak from cabelas for $150… and for Clay, if you would have told me this about two months after i started tying i would ave thrown everything away but now i can make flies close to the pictures and to what i need, im hooked now and even though i try to use my el cheapo cabelas kit vise as a rotary it just doesnt cut it. It is way more expensive to tie my own flies for myself but to have a wild trout hammer one of your dries out of nowhere, now that is priceless and keeps me coming back to the vise.
garb72
Well, you’re hooked.
So now, this is what I’d do. I’d try to locate as many of the vises with the features I want and tie on them to see how they work for me. For example, some people use a rotary vise to just spin the fly around and see the other side. Others use a “true” rotary vise and use the rotary feature to tie, as Buddy mentioned. Big difference - and some “rotary” vises will not accomodate both.
Ask someone what’s the best truck to get and you’ll hear proponents for Chevys, Fords and so on. It really only matters which one best suits you. Vises can be like that too. My perfect vise may not be yours. You have lots of quality products to pick from that work. Finding the one that works best for you is the challenge.