This vise has a long, storied history. It began as a Thomas Vise. Was improved upon by Harry Darbee, re-named the Phelps Vise when Phelps made them. Then, became the Xuron Vise.
It is still made today, by a company in Florida.
The standard model sells for about $130. It is a great vise for the money.
The long, bent stem ends in a ball which is held in place by a plate. This allows the entire stem/jaw assembly to be moved to nearly any angle while tying. I really like the design which is over 60 years old!
Nice looking vise. Very clean and simple design. I’m just wondering, is that sheet of paper next to the vise a count of the number of vises you have???
Byron, I had a c-clamp model back in the late 70’s maybe early 80’s. Probably the best hook holding vise I ever tied with. It was replaced with a HMH because of the rotary feature. I have used a couple others after the HMH. I’ve been tying with a Renzetti Master since the late 90’s, this vise does everything quite well, I supply the rest. Certainly not the accumulation of vises you have but I’ve done well.
Gene
Joe,
If you look at the base, there is a plate with screws at one end and a wing nut at the other. The plate has a smooth hole which fits over the vise stem and ball. You can tighten or loosen the wing nut which applies more or less tension on the ball of the stem.
The Xuron was the second vise I bought, and I tied on it, hard, for two/three years - before replacing it with an HMH Premium.
I bought my Xuron off Eric Leiser’s The Rivergate store - at the time the price was $37,50. It is a bulletproof design, and an under-rated vise in today’s world.
I saw this vise being used many years ago. Looked great then and looks great today. I must disagree with you however. If it is “an under-rated vise in today’s world”, it is because it hasn’t been seen or used.
I also have a Xuron. It’s a nice simple design and it holds hooks securely. In its day, it was a high quality, functional vise. However, the inability to adjust the height or rotate the head limits its usefulness.
The “deluxe” model Xuron did allow the jaws to turn 360 degrees. It is not the most functional feature, however.
Like Hans, I found it to be an excellent vise. However, I too sought vises with other attributes. I would sure recommend it even today to someone looking for a very good vise in the price range of under $150!!
Yup, all single lever and one piece jaws. But the jaws are different sizes. If you look at the vices that Harry and Elsie used the are also different. There was a material clip also made for them but I have not been able to find on yet.
](http://s1101.photobucket.com/user/byhaugh/media/20141009_100420_zps2fdca89e.jpg.html)
