Re: [VFB] Vise dilemma

[mark romero]

Glad to hear it Dave. Hey in the end, Lee Wulff did just fine for prolly 70 
yrs. or so with no vise. He tied all his flies in his fingers. We're, (sfm, 
i'm) spoiled. It's nice when you can occassionally afford to upgrade 
anything, beit an old truck or a vise. Good luck with your tying. mark....

From: Dave Campbell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [VFB] Vise dilemma
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2004 21:57:06 -0700
I agree with Joyce on this...
Of course, this is coming from my VAST tying experience (NOT)...
Last summer I was looking for a newer vise, but money has been tight. If I 
could have gotten a mongoose on eBay I may have done so, but they were 
running the prices up as well.

I know what I got was WAY below the level of what everyone is looking at, 
and a LAW is more than my old truck was worth as a trade-in!

What I ended up doing was going to my local shop, taking a fly about the 
size I normally tie, and putting it in each vise that was a contender. I 
was wanting to see if it would slip or not, mostly. I was very surprised at 
the play that was in some of the vises approaching $100. I wasn't opposed 
to buying one of them, but the looseness in the various parts was a tad 
disconcerting.

I ended up getting one like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=23816&item=7121412770&rd=1
and got it for $40, with the base. I also bought for almost the same money 
a bobbin cradle, so still came out under the price of the wobbly $100 
vises.

I immediately went to Ace Hardware with the grommet at the back of the jaws 
and bought 2 replacements, and stuffed them into my tools bin in my fly box 
for when it craps out.

I haven't had any trouble at all with slippage.
I took it to Albuquerque with me for Thanksgiving with the base, and it 
wasn't until I was driving back that I realized I had no troubles at all 
with it being off balance or anything... didn't even notice it.. and my 
Father-in-law loved the 21 flies I left there :)

Just some comments from the cheap seats!
-Dave
On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 17:39:07 -0700, Joyce's crafts and flies wrote:
> The big thing, I think, is that the vise has to suit the tier. I
> tried Han's LAW vise when he visited our tying guild and found that
> the space behind the jaws was way too much for me to comforably tie
> on it, but with his larger hands, it was just right for him. I like
> to rest my hand on the back of the vise (minimizes arthritic pain)
> when I tie, and there are some vises that just don't allow this
> when one has small hands. So, try out the vise for a bit before you
> buy it. Those who sell vises will let you do this. I also have a
> traveler, but find that it is just too wobbly for the way I crank
> down on  my thread when I tie. I want a very stable vise. I also
> want lots of control, so want a vise that will turn as fast or slow
> as I decide. Make a list of the things you need in a vise, then
> make a list of the things you'd like if they were available, then
> find the vises that match and go try them out. Joyce