But Santa wants to know which vise I want. I have a cheapo Indian made black and brass but Santa (Mrs Doctor Rick) wants to know which one I want.

Any ideas for the best buy rotary vise and where to buy it?

Thanks, and...

Renzetti's traveler or presentation are both high-quality true rotary vice's. Check their website for a dealer near you.

Cabela's shows Renzetti, Griffin, Peak, Mongoose, HMH, Dyna-King, Regal etc in their catalog.
Pretty much all the main players.
I would cruise over to Cabela's and have a look.

Nor-Vise.

Its not your conventional fly tying vise, but, it's truely rotary.

I've been using a Regal for the past 20 years or so.
Lots of good options out there.

Saw this on another board. No worries about hook slippage.
If you are bored and haven't used your welder in awhile, everything Mrs Doctor Rick would need is at Lowes or Home Depot.

Brilliant! Finally, the vise I have been looking for. No need to be delicate with that bad boy. Kevlar thread has finally met it's match.

A deal you can't refuse!!!!
Let Santa know Ducker has a Thompson A that he will swap for any Renzetti she picks up.
I'll send Pauly, Pauly and Dominic by to pick it up.

Ducker!

Stonefish
That is a classic!!

Reminds me of my first "vise" - a pair of needle nose pliers (borrowed from my Dad) held in place on the table by a bucket of sand and the tension provided by rubber bands wrapped around the "needles". Only 9 at the time.

Doc. Rick
In the 55 years since then I have upgraded several times (wearing out 3 vises in the process); my current vise is a Renzetti traveler which I like a lot.

Tight lines
Curt

Finally something that can hold a 50/0 hook for my Extra Large Chironmids.

I've got a Renzetti also and would recommend Avid Angler in Lake Forest Park as a local shop you can send "Santa" to.

renzetti- best easy to use rotory vise
come down to the gig harbor fly shop, got a full selection, and if you get lucky enough to show up on a day I work it really might be worth your trip

Stoney, That looks about like what I have, anyway, I won't be tying any 30-06 Clousers anytime soon.

Ducker, What can I say? You'll prolly want to borrow it anyway!

OPfisher, didn't we meet at the WSC dinner?
PM me with suggestions for Santa.

If rotary is a requirement: Renzetti.
If you want an all-around solid performer: Regal.

I have a Dyna King Barracuda Jr. It's a very slick-looking, full rotary vise on a pedestal. What sold me on it was the "universal" jaw, which is advertised to hold a wide range of hook sizes without slippage. It works great for hooks size 12 and larger, but I have yet to figure out how to get it to grasp smaller hooks and hold them under any amount of pressure. I don't tie many flies in smaller sizes (I usually buy the small stuff - those kids in Malaysia tie MUCH better small stuff than I ever could), so most of the time this vise works great for me, but there have been occasions where I have had to resign myself to tying smaller stuff, and in those cases, it has frustrated me more than a little. I learned through a little research that there was a midge jaw available. Thinking that might solve the problem, I bought one, but it has been even less successful at holding small hooks.

I have decided, after carefully observing the movement of the jaws as I lock them down, that the cam lock that holds the jaw setting is to blame. When the cam lock is fully engaged, the jaws actually back off ever so slightly. For whatever reason, this doesn't cause any problems with hooks large enough to fit in one of the two hook bend holds in the jaw, but with hooks that are too small to fit in the grooves, the backoff compromises the hold.

Long story short is that while my vise is great for 98% of the flies I tie, it is nearly non-functional for the other 2%. When the only flies that will catch fish in a given situation (spring creeks come to mind) fall into that 2%, the issue becomes nothing short of maddening. For this reason, as great as it is for larger flies, I would not recommend a Dyna King to anyone who plans to tie small flies with any regularity. From what I remember, Renzettis have a different locking mechanism, and I suspect it would work better for the small stuff.

With hindsight, while I like the speed afforded by a rotary vise, I think the best all-around performer would probably be a Regal. They have changed their design relatively little over the years, presumably because it flat out works. Most of the best tyers I know (I certainly don't fall into that category) use a Regal, if that is any indication. Besides all this, a Regal is about $200 cheaper than a high-end rotary model.

Merry Christmas.

Regal does have a full-rotary vise called the Revolution. Pricey, but it retains all of the desireable Regal features.

Thanks, Gents,

I'm seeing the Renzetti Traveler for $189 at several sites.
The Regal is about $100 more.

I'm mostly tying steelhead, salmon and trout/bass size stuff. So far no #28, but mostly 10, 8, 6, 4, 1, 2, 1/0

Just bought some stuff for Bead Head nymphs, prince, mega prince and copper Johns.

I think the action of a rotary will help me flip the fly and tie the lower end the right way.

Fixed it for ya...........



BTW its only a 18/0 shark hook, still looking for a stout rig to cast it with.


c/22

A while back I saw the new Regal rotary vise at my local fly shop. The owner wasn't too impressed with it in regard to the rotary function.

I hear through the backchannel that the good wife and 2 nearly grown kids pulled the trigger on a Renzetti Traveler for "good old dad" for Christmas, but I don't know that and won't see it until Dec.25. I'm good with that!

Thanks for all the good discussion.

You got all the cool stuff!

Ducker!

The vise is great!! Now, I just get to use it and then wrap it up just in time to open it up on Christmas and be happy again, which it will be againi!!
Life is Good!