I know that many flies are tied without a vise. Many of the commercial flies are done in third world counties when minimal tools are present. Yes, I have a couple of vises, but just want to see how they do it without a vise. I’m looking for a video but couldn’t find anything on YouTube. Probably how I am doing the search, but can anyone point me to a video that I can watch on my computer on how to tie without a vise.
here is selene dumaine tying a rangley style carrie stevens streamer.
by hand, on youtube 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-xwwfgCu-U&eurl=http://www.taoft.fi/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=1839
CLAY you will have to go to a tyer in the 30’s to get a true no vise tyer. When I learned from my father we didnt have a vise. Now in my 80’s I’ll have to take it up again for a show. I made dads vise in later years,first with a pin vise and c clamp. then a true cam vise in high school shop class.
The master of no vise tying was Lee Wulff. He never used a vise. Ive sat at his tying desk.still with all the material layed out–no vise. At one show a couple years ago we watched a man tie a Royal Wulff. Dont try that as a first attempt. You use three fingers–thumb first and second finger.
Take at least a large size such as a 8 hook and tie a wollybugger. Cheat a little my starting the thread and half hitch in the rear. I hold the hook in my left hand between the thumb and second finger. With the right hand add the marabou tothe rear holding it down with the first finger ,wrap and half hitch. Tie in the hackle and chenille and half hitch again. Wrap thread to the eye half hitch again wrap chenille half hitch wrap hackle and tie of with a half hitch again for a head. As you can see the secret is holding down the material with you left hand first finger and tying it down with a one wrap simple half hitch each time to hold the material in place while add another part. No your confussed BILL :tieone:
Normand,
Thank you!! I’ve never seen anyone tie without the vise before! Fascinating!
My friend Paul Jones ties without a vise… no tools other than a pair of scisors when he ties… i can bearly tie WITH a vise let alone with just using me hands… he is an interesting feller and lives between arp & tyler… http://www.historicanglingenterprises.com/
bugman,
Thanks for the link to your friends website. Very interesting.
I have a hard enough time with a vise that is nuts
It is not nuts. But it is merely a novelty. I’ve seen a lot of people do it but never quite understood the point other than to demonstrate it could be done…
Normand, do you have an answer for everything?
Instead of googling things, we can just normand it 
Talking about tying without a vise, I’m dreaming of a Nor-Vise but when I see this I get humble and think that I should be happy with what I have.
The best instruction for tying with no vise can be found in George Kelson’s “The Salmon Fly”, circa late 1800s. The book may be accessed and downloaded free from google books. Go to google.com then look at the “more” tab, then choose books. Type in George Kelson.
The easiest fly by far to tie with no vise is a Carrie Stevens streamer, as the sides are glued together beforehand. I think the hardest is a #20 dry fly which legend has it Lee Wulff could do. I’ve always had trouble believing that, as just holding a #20 hook in your left hand is incredibly difficult. It leaves no room to work.
I’ve done lots of wet flies in hand, and they’re not particularly difficult but it’s slow going. Here’s a shot of some practice ones I did at one point:
Great work Eaustin!
Lee Wullf is another great tyer who tied some patterns without a vise, and even on location streamside !!!
Thanks Normand for the great link. E, that’s some nice work indeed, appreciate the link to information.
So everyone understands the reason for the post, it’s more of a historical reason to understand how things were done in the past before fancy must have roatary vise features. It’s to better understand where we came from to appreciate what we have now. Bluntly I have no intensions of tying without a vise myself. Cool history.
Clay, I think it’s a really good idea to give tying in hand a try. Maybe a large Wooly Bugger or something relatively easy to start with. There’s a great freedom to it, and it’s surprising the number of things that are actually easier to do in hand, like winging wet flies, and things that you’ll discover are so much more diffiult, like dubbing and winding things in general.
Tiers in the 1800s and early 1900s used some tricks to help them finish flies, like buttons on the work surface that they could wrap the thread around to gain some tension on the thread while finishing off, etc. They used “pliers” or hackle pliers as we know them. There were no bobbins, but a bobbin makes things so much easier, you’re not constantly having to weigh the thread down or wax it like crazy to make it stay put.
It’s a great exercise, and worth doing. You can tie right in front of the T.V. if you want, or even outdoors. Roy Christie does a very cool thing. He shows up at a river early in the day with just thread, hooks, scissors and hare’s ear fur. He then fishes all phases of a hatch, starting with nymphs, on to emergers, then duns and spinners, tying all the flies streamside in-hand. Roy can tie all his rather tricky backwards parachutes and upside down flies in-hand, and I have some that he did for a contest I held awhile back. It’s fun and challenging, and it can never hurt to try. That said, I rarely tie in hand now myself, it just takes me too long. But every once in awhile it’s great fun.
Eric
I can remember a Wide World of Sports segment with Lee Wulff and another fellow (an artist?) fishing for lunker brook trout in Maine or Canada.
I vividly recall Mr. Wulff tying a streamer without the aid of a vise!
Fascinating!
bobbyg
Gorgeous flies Eaustin, and I?m amazed those were tyed in hand, clearly demonstrates that practice makes perfect. WOW!
Eric,
Your wets tied “in hand” look better than mine tied with a vise.
At a tying expo in Ellensburg this spring I watched Harry LeMire tie a full dress atlantic salmon fly in hand. What a humbling experience. it’s no wonder there was standing room only at his table. What a class gentleman.
Really neat, a have a few - always appreciate when he does something for us here.
Would love to meet him in person.
Vicar Robert Spaigth from England is in Montana fishing the spring creek as we speak, his wife Ann also fishes and they will fish the upper Yellowstone in the Park as well as the Big Horn andf Henry’s Fork before they go back to the UK. Trav’s nephew Tommy is guiding them for the whole trip. For those who have attended FFF Conclaves, Robert has been a featured tier for those as well as the big European Fly Faires. Nice folks.
I’ve been toying with the idea of a “no vice” swap for a while. It could be interesting to say the least.
Inspired by this thread, I decided to tie a simple fly by hand.
I was almost pleased with my result!
I tied a beadhead boa leech.
Ed