D
denovich
New member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2013
- Messages
- 26
I was asked to name my prize for a recent job well done at work. I have a Danvise which after a number of mods I'm fairly happy with. But I saw this as a chance to get the vise of a lifetime. I work for a UK company, and my manager is from Scotland, so a LAW Bench vise would have been perfect if one could be found for less than a king's ransom.
I considered the other options... For me access to the back of the fly with my left hand is essential. It's what bothered me about the Danvise and why I had to tweak it. I considered the best that Regal, Renzetti, and DynaKing had to offer. Each had something about them that I didn't like. So I kept looking and found the J-Vise (or J-Vice) http://www.jvice.com/
Jay Smitt appears to be stepping into the shoes that Lawrance Waldron vacated, by making extremely well designed vises in low volumes with high attention to detail. Ordering from him direct is a bit of a pain (he's in South Africa) but his vise is resold by Wasatch Custom Angling http://flytyingtools.com/ who add their own custom base.
Now I'm a wood worker, and would be happy to make my own base (probably will) but I wasn't paying, and it was easy to order from them. Amazingly it arrived only 2 days later.
I've tied a few flies on the vise now and I can say I'm really impressed. The access to the rear of the fly is as good as it gets. The jaws grip tight enough to snap off hooks and work with the largest and smallest hooks I have (2/0 to 28). The rotary function is very smooth, it's so natural to have my left hand resting in the bend of the arm. I easily rock the fly back and forth to see what I'm doing. It's not perfectly balanced, so it won't spin like a Norvise... but that's not how I tie anyway. I also got the gallows (parachute) attachment. It's just a loop of wire that you can tie your post to... it rotates with the head and it's genius. Very slick for hackle stacker/paraloop style flies.
The Wasatch made base is very nice. I was surprised to find that the brass cups were lathed from bar stock and weigh about a pound each. After I took the attached picture, I gave the brass a rub down with a progression of grits from 1000-4000. They now look really sharp. They are a buff away from being mirror like, but I think I like the dull glow better.
The vise has many options... Wasatch sells some, but you can find all sorts if you order direct from Jay.
Check it out if you are in the market for your last vise.
Or look at the pretty picture of mine and be envious.
I considered the other options... For me access to the back of the fly with my left hand is essential. It's what bothered me about the Danvise and why I had to tweak it. I considered the best that Regal, Renzetti, and DynaKing had to offer. Each had something about them that I didn't like. So I kept looking and found the J-Vise (or J-Vice) http://www.jvice.com/
Jay Smitt appears to be stepping into the shoes that Lawrance Waldron vacated, by making extremely well designed vises in low volumes with high attention to detail. Ordering from him direct is a bit of a pain (he's in South Africa) but his vise is resold by Wasatch Custom Angling http://flytyingtools.com/ who add their own custom base.
Now I'm a wood worker, and would be happy to make my own base (probably will) but I wasn't paying, and it was easy to order from them. Amazingly it arrived only 2 days later.
I've tied a few flies on the vise now and I can say I'm really impressed. The access to the rear of the fly is as good as it gets. The jaws grip tight enough to snap off hooks and work with the largest and smallest hooks I have (2/0 to 28). The rotary function is very smooth, it's so natural to have my left hand resting in the bend of the arm. I easily rock the fly back and forth to see what I'm doing. It's not perfectly balanced, so it won't spin like a Norvise... but that's not how I tie anyway. I also got the gallows (parachute) attachment. It's just a loop of wire that you can tie your post to... it rotates with the head and it's genius. Very slick for hackle stacker/paraloop style flies.
The Wasatch made base is very nice. I was surprised to find that the brass cups were lathed from bar stock and weigh about a pound each. After I took the attached picture, I gave the brass a rub down with a progression of grits from 1000-4000. They now look really sharp. They are a buff away from being mirror like, but I think I like the dull glow better.
The vise has many options... Wasatch sells some, but you can find all sorts if you order direct from Jay.
Check it out if you are in the market for your last vise.
Or look at the pretty picture of mine and be envious.