Which FLY TYING VISE do I buy?!?

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Buying a fly tying vise is no easy decision! This video goes over the main types of vises, as I share similarities, differences, and characteristics I look for when purchasing. Suggestions are given to help when you ask others for advice. This is a very personal decision that relates to the types of flies that you tie. Good luck making a decision, and feel free sharing this video with others who are also considering a new vise.

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Music credit: Joe Clark

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[kerrypitt]

Tim the problem with buying vises, is (for a Neophyte in particular) they cannot try out a vice or rather all types of vices (not brands). I started with a pressed steel vice that came in the 1969 kit my dad bought me. It was a terrible vice but to me, it was wonderful. I tied with that silly little voice for years. I knew no better! I lived on Vancouver Island at the time and when I was five I got a job through my mother packaging his flies, but I was too young to think about vises. One day in about 1973/74 I got a call when a fellow I met I forget where, had a box of fly tying equipment for sale and I was introduced to the Thompson AA and that tied hundreds and hundreds of flies for me. It is sad that they don't exist anymore. That was a great vise for beginners or more experienced tyers.
I went to a Gryphon Odyssey rotary next and that tied another pile of flies for me, I sold it to a local fellow, it may still be working still. I bought a double headed Vosselar vise that was Maybe the best holding jaws in the industry. I tied with that for a good few years and then a friend of mine bought a Nor-vise and I knew immediately I wanted one. I sold off my vise and some well used saddles went to the fashion industry. Made enough to buy a Nor-Vise and an extra bobbin and a box of spools. Along with wading boots. I've been tying on the Nor-Vise for around 20 years now. I love the thing. The learning curve is steep but get through it and it will amaze you. Thanks for all the work you did on this Tim, I enjoyed it.

[dongrundy]

I’ve tied for 30+ years and this is an excellent discussion of vise options for anyone. Well done!

[mrok]

Thanks Tim. Your videos are exceptionally well done and informative. I've noticed exactly that - everyone has an opinion on 'the best vice'. But, like you said, what's best for them may not be best for you. I started on the Renzetti Traveller 2000. It was good and and did its job really well, but being big handed, , it became small for me. I then bit the bullet and bought a Dyna-King Barracuda. A tank. Robust as they get. I loved it, BUT, I soon realised hook sizes in size 8 to 10 which were round (rather than flat) would slip. I emailed Dyna-King several times and was told to tighten the adjusting cone more. To be honest, its the best jaw for salt water fly tying IMO (the two slots hold large hooks 4/0-8/0 amazingly well), but it's definitely not the best for fresh within the previously mentioned hook types. I bit the bullet again and purchased Dyna-King's midge jaws, but also found they didn't hold these hooks all that well either. After some thought, I decided to look into a different vise and saw your review on the the Norvise 'system'. A few weeks later I was tying on the revolutionary Norvise system and think its the one for me. Is it perfect? No. Sometimes spinning quickly and the auto bobbins can be a pain, but once you get the hang of it, it's a great system as you rightly pointed out. Just as I thought that was it for me with vises, I'm now looking into the another one haha.

[davidhughes]

Hi from Kansas City 🎣🤠. I've been tying for 65 years and still have the fire 🔥 for flytying. Enjoyed your show today and agreed with you on all points. When I was a kid your vicegrips was always in my tackle box, so I could make a fly to match the hatch in the boat. 🎣🤠. Dave Hughes

[GeorgeSemel]

Well, you could always go with the vise Lee Wulff used!!! Your hands. Actually of late, I have been tying on an older Renzentti traveler. I like the rotary feature. I find I can set a wire rib much more precisely. It's a little short in the arm I may upgrade it. I tied on first-generation Regal, I still have that one, very simple to use. I also tied and still tie on an HMH. I do own a Dyna King Professional, that I guess I had had since around 1988. I tied commercially on that one for quite a few years. And I still have my vise I started with a Thompson A. What to buy I don't know since it's such a personal thing. With the jaws they do offer now, I think from an ease of use and hook range- Regal is the one. I am going to buy a new Regal it will be 40 years since I bought the first-gen. There is a lot of good vises around these days even a few custom-made machine jobs with price tags to match.

[guyrivest]

Just a few words FYI. If you're still not shure how to pronounce the name of this vise, just take a look at the stylised bird image on the cover of the case and I think the hint will be evident to you as to what this italian word means and how it should be pronounced.
Thank you for your excellent videos, love them.
Again FYI, I'm a french canadian trout and salmon fly fisherman from Quebec and I love everything Stonfo.
Keep up your fantastic work and thank you again.

[artinmarootian]

Hi Tim. Long time fan. I started like most with a kit style vise. Upgraded to a Renzetti Presentation 2000. Tied on it for years. Excellent vise. About a year ago I took the plunge (risk) and bought a J-Vise after years of eyeing it online and watching videos. Am I glad I did. I love it. Not only is it eye candy, the functionality is also the best. His unique “Goose Neck” design is super comfortable and has given me the best access to the back of the hooks I use. I tie an array of flies. From size 22-24 midges to 3/0 saltwater flies for yellowtail and calico bass. It’s been great. Holds the hook very well. He also has midge jaws but I haven’t yet swapped the standard. I haven’t had the need. I highly recommend this vise. Jay makes it South Africa and is a fantastic guy.

[mikekuczynski]

Tim, excellent video on one of the most asked about fly tying subjects . Like you I have been tying a long time and when the Renzetti traveler came out it changed my world of tying . Tied with it exclusively for many years went through two sets of jaws all my tying was for trout but when I started going after larger fish found out I was limited to hook size with this vice . Looked around spoke with my tying friends and people who were tying salt water patterns, salmon, pike etc and purchased a Dyna King . Today for big flys I use the Dyna King for smaller flies the Renzetti . I wish when I was looking for a vice that could do it all the Stonfo Transformer was available, my friend has one and was kind enough to let me use it for a couple of months what a versatile vice, Rotary head, streamer head and tube fly head easy set up wow .

[kerrypitt]

Overcome Temptation by fulfilling it! Keep them all

[daverichards]

Great Video Tim. I have to say I like watching your channel, your delivery is superb, you have a truly enthusiastic nature. I like tying flies and thought “mmm, I would like a new vice” I know who would know a few things. You video supplied me with the correct analytical approach to follow. I most tie carp fly’s at the moment. (I’m a fly fishing nut for UK carp!) Mostly tie in 6-12 size(8/10 being more frequent) Thanks for the information
David

[manifestgtr]

I’ve had my eyes on the Stonfo Elite for a while now. I don’t really have a need for the full transformer setup. The Elite just has everything I want…parachute clip, rotary handle, expandability, etc.

[Woodyt]

Had to come back and few this again you pack a lot of info in this video with great recommendations. All of which are excellent. Good job. Tim

[tacticalskiffs]

I owned the original Regal vise, and I now have a Standard, and a Magnum. I don't recommend the Magnum, all it is is the same jaw, cut as a single bevel rather than a double bevel, which given that the vise is angle adjustable doesn't make much difference. Though it makes the jaw look more massive in pictures. AND it actually opens up less than the Standard. My Standard will hold a 75 thou wire jig hook, that will not fit into the Magnum! On the other hand, being a single bevel the Magnum is actually finer at the tips, and holds a size 20 with more clearance. Though it can on occasion spit them out at velocity.

Regal has the best bite in the business, and I am happy with my purchases, because having bought both for teaching I can use whichever works best when I am using them. I would look them over carefully when deciding.

[sputnick]

Love my Stonfo Transformer per your review. It's met all of my needs.

[musicinmiles]

Still loving the transformer after all these years thanks to your first review of it! Thanks for the info.

[minaviladas]

Great video, Tim! My daily vise is a Regal revolution, which I love. I also have a Kaiman for travel, but the lever on it is very hard to squeeze and it also curves away, which makes it even more uncomfortable. There are many great vises on the market, I wish I could have tried a few out before buying, but I’ll tie on my Revolution for many years to come.

[tacticalskiffs]

I haven't tried the Norvise. But with regular true rotary vises, I don't see a speed advantage. Human hands are pretty fast, and there are steps to preparing a rotary prior to using the rotation. Normally I would be done on a regular vise before I was set up to rotate a rotary. I haven't market tied in a while, but back when I did, nobody was using the true rotaries for production tying. Possibly that might have been cost, but I look at it this way. Non rotary vises are never set up like rotary vises. If rotary is not part of the package, you don't see awkward horizontal head angles with the hand rest being above the fly. One of the critical skills in tying is how your vise supports your weak hand, and how that hand supports your strong hand. All that is easier when the headstock of a vise is angled. Rotary is cool for beginners who want to check 360 for errors...

Some of this depends on the flies themselves. The more winding of materials the more rotary might have an advantage. For the most part, I don't see those flies being all that popular. Thread and floss bodies are not super popular, particularly on straight shank hooks.

Speaking of popular flies. A lot of them are tied on bent shank hooks that don't rotate well. So if one did have a thread body, it might be on a Polish nymph, or a jig nymph, with a body that was probably small, and usually is curved.

[kerrypitt]

So further to my other comment, this is what people need! They don't need someone to tell them to run and buy a Renzetti, Norvise, Peak, honestly they need to know what aspects of a vise are important and what are less important. Then they can go look. It surely would be nice if there was a way to tie on a bunch of vises so you have a better idea of what you will like. I have gone through a few, but not without trying to upgrade each time. There are some differences in the vises function but not many. I think Norvise is the only radically different vise there is. Tim can correct me if I'm wrong. Other than that you are just looking for a bunch of different features and Tim has done a great job. I have seen a lot of changes since I started in 1969, I think this pretty much sums them up.

[ArcticFlies]

Tim, I started out using a cheap vise, like most of us. When you’re ready to move up from the initial vise, as you said this is the time to do a lot of research. I looked at it as an “investment”. Keep in mind, everyone has their particular “needs” and those needs have to dictate which vise you invest in. To continually purchase different vises will quickly add up to an investment of one of the first class systems or more. The second vise I was going to purchase was going to be my last vise. I compared every vise on the market and did my “pros” and “Cons”. I bought the Nor Vise System. I’ve tied hooks and tubes of every size. As you said, the Nor Vise has it all and does it all easily, fast and accurately with less effort. I had to modify the Nor Vise to meet my needs which made it much more friendly to use. This would be the same problem with every vise that I would have purchased. My feeling is, if you’re going to invest in a fly tying vise and you tie more then a few different size hooks and tubes, invest in a system that does it all. It will save you money in the long run.

[smcisaac]

I bought the Stonfo Transformer last year (upgraded from an old Renzetti Traveler) and love it except for two things: (1) I can't get the material spring to stay on--the screw that holds it in keeps working itself loose. (2) the stem is a little thicker than most other vise stems, and my old accessories that I mounted on my Renzetti stem (magnifier, lamp, waste bag, hackle gage) won't fit on the new Stonfo stem.