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xx2-3 Vice Selection
Original article which was written several years ago,? is below this one. When I get around to it, I will combine the two articles. 2020 January 24
When people start tying flies, one of the first questions asked is what type of fly tying vice should I get? I had written a fairly detailed article about this subject, but it got erased accidently. I will try to rewrite it later in more detail, but here are a few of the facts.
We purchased eight fly tying vices for our Rocky River fly tying group in 2010 because I owned one and had found it very satisfactory. It was inexpensive by vice standards, and I suspect a copy of the Renzetii. I decided about 2015 that I should get a new fly tying vice because mine was not pretty or slick with fancy features. I was prepared to spend $500.00 assuming I could find what I was looking for.
The first thing I did was go to the fly fish Ohio and review all of their recommendations. That was a good exercise, and if you are looking, you should read their article here.
The vice I chose was the EZ Zephr Rotary Vice ($45.00 to $60.00)
The comments below are from the first reviewer on the Zephr EZ Rotating Vice. It was $45.00 when I bought mine, but since then we have purchased 2 more for our fly tying class and they were about $60.00. A real plus on the vice now is that the jaws have a lever for tightening the hook in the jaws. The older model uses a set screw that requires the use of a Allen wrench. There were several reviewers for each vice and this was the first one for the Zephr EZ Rotary. Do not confuse this vice with the Orvis EZ vice
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Jim's Comments - .While this vise isn't a Hook and Hackle branded tool, it's one of the only places outside of EBay that we could acquire one. The EZ Rotary comes in as the least expensive 'true' rotary tying vise on the planet. The box is nice and it was packed in a fitted foam insert. The C-clamp worked great and held the tool very well. My main vise is a Renzetti Traveler with the knob adjustable jaws. The EZ was clearly designed with the Traveler as a guide. While I'm not a big fan of all the wacky adjustments the EZ has, the fact remains, it's infinitely adjustable. It probably has more machined aluminum than the Traveler and comes across as a stouter tool. That said, the EZ jaws weren't even close to the quality of the Traveler. I'm no fan of Renzetti's use of 'O' rings to tension the back of the jaw with a compression spring at the front to keep them open but the EZ has no spring at the jaw front so they have a tendency to flop around when open. This wasn't the end of the world but the EZ has slippage when holding really big hooks. I did like the fact that the EZ has a thumb screw holding the jaw in place as opposed to a slotted screw, on my Renzetti. The only real tool you'll need to adjust this vise is a 2mm hex wrench for loosening the rotating parts of the vise barrel. This is one of the best vises coming out of the Pakistani/Indian vise market and, for the price, you also get true rotary functionality.
Jim's Rating - 3.20
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The entire article at Fly Fish Ohio is very interesting reading because it will give you details about lots of vices. After studying about which vice I wanted to upgrade to I decided that I would save the money and did not need to upgrade as there was nothing better unless I wanted to get into tying large flies other than trout flies. Salt water flies, steel head flies and others types of fishing require larger hooks and consequently might need a larger vice. Here is the link for Fly Fish Ohio Vice Shoot Out.
http://www.flyfishohio.com/Vise%20Review%201/Fly_Tying_Vise_Shoot-Out.htm
Jack This article was updated July 13th, 2018.
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Older article which I found in Feb 2020
Vices Fly tying I had to do a little research on vices because we need two more vices for our fly tying classes. It turns out vices have gotten a lot more expensive since we bought six Zephr EZ Rotary Vices in 2007. As I recall they were $45.00 each. It is hard to find a source on the Internet for the Zephr EZ. They are now $85.00 and a funny thing is that Orvis now has an EZ vice too. I like to buy local and try to do that with materials, but when it comes to a high ticket item such as a vice that can be as little as $15.00 to $600.00 then it pays to shop around.
The first thing is to check out the site directly below, or read the 100s of reviews of all those fly tying vices that their makers say their vice is the very best. When a company makes a vice or for that matter most any item and says it’s the best, they are somewhat prejudiced.
http://www.flyfishohio.com/Vise%20Review%201/Fly_Tying_Vise_Shoot-Out.htm
http://www.flyfishohio.com/Vise%20Review%201/so_many_vises_$50.htm
The link directly was a review done by Fly Fish Ohio in 2007. The gist of the article is a review and rating of vices that are less than $50.00, less than $100.00 to $150.00.
Now to back up a minute: Prior to this season’s Fly Tying Classes, I told my wife I thought I should upgrade my vice which I have had for over 10 years. I started looking on-line and also in local shops. Locally it seemed a decent vice was $150 or more.
I found that one of the really high end vices is the Rinziti which has three models, the 2000, 3000, and the 4000. There is a good video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShM9JVcLpIE
You will find that there are a lot of videos out on Youtube and the ones to believe totally are the videos produced by someone other than the company that manufactures the vice.
I found the video (above and here) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShM9JVcLpIE
did a good job of explaining the features. There are some “extras” you can purchase that will give you just about everything for the Zephr EZ Rotary that you get on the Higher end Renzetti vices. The part of the video that show the vice jaws is comparable to the EZ. I purchased a Material Handler for somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 back in the day. I still could use a material clip, but I just let the bobbin and thread hang over the barrel adjustment screw.
I also found a pretty good review by an individual named Todd Zechiel at
http://hubpages.com/sports/Zephy-EZ-Rotary-Vise-For-Tying-Flies
who goes through the details of the Zephr EZ very nicely. There was also an individual who purchased the Renzitti jaws and placed them in the Zephr EZ. He found them a little loose so used some duct tape (as I recall) to make it tight. His conclusion was that it was not worth the effort and expense. The point being that the Zephr EZ looks very much like the Renzitti and you can place your left hand on the top of the vice to hold two feathers for adding wings. The toggle for tightening the jaws is an improvement on the Renzitti, but I purchased a couple of Allen wrenches for dealing with the jaws on the Zephr EZ. I might be 3 seconds slower fastening the hook in the vice, but I am not a production tier either.
The jaws on the Zepr Ez have several holes for adjusting the jaws for holding larger or smaller flies. This point is illustrated very well in the Renzitti video.
There are lots of other vices out there that are excellent, you just need to do some research and decide how much you want to spend.
We will stick with the Zephr EZ Rotary if we can find a couple. I think I saw a price of $85.00 for one and under circumstances will purchase two. If you are shopping also check Google. I see a lot of the Renzitti Traveler vices out there and that is a popular and excellent vice.
JM This is a test. duke energy
I had to do a little research on vices because we need two more vices for our fly tying classes. It turns out vices have gotten a lot more expensive since we bought six Zephr EZ Rotary Vices in 2007. As I recall they were $45.00 each. It is hard to find a source on the Internet for the Zephr EZ. They are now $85.00 and a funny thing is that Orvis now has an EZ vice too. I like to buy local and try to do that with materials, but when it comes to a high ticket item such as a vice that can be as little as $15.00 to $600.00 then it pays to shop around.
The first thing is to check out the site directly below, or read the 100s of reviews of all those fly tying vices that their makers say their vice is the very best. When a company makes a vice or for that matter most any item and says it’s the best, they are somewhat prejudiced.
http://www.flyfishohio.com/Vise%20Review%201/Fly_Tying_Vise_Shoot-Out.htm
http://www.flyfishohio.com/Vise%20Review%201/so_many_vises_$50.htm
The link directly was a review done by Fly Fish Ohio in 2007. The gist of the article is a review and rating of vices that are less than $50.00, less than $100.00 to $150.00.
Now to back up a minute: Prior to this season’s Fly Tying Classes, I told my wife I thought I should upgrade my vice which I have had for over 10 years. I started looking on-line and also in local shops. Locally it seemed a decent vice was $150 or more.
I found that one of the really high end vices is the Rinziti which has three models, the 2000, 3000, and the 4000. There is a good video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShM9JVcLpIE
You will find that there are a lot of videos out on Youtube and the ones to believe totally are the videos produced by someone other than the company that manufactures the vice.
I found the video (above and here) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShM9JVcLpIE
did a good job of explaining the features. There are some “extras” you can purchase that will give you just about everything for the Zephr EZ Rotary that you get on the Higher end Renzetti vices. The part of the video that show the vice jaws is comparable to the EZ. I purchased a Material Handler for somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 back in the day. I still could use a material clip, but I just let the bobbin and thread hang over the barrel adjustment screw.
I also found a pretty good review by an individual named Todd Zechiel at http://hubpages.com/sports/Zephy-EZ-Rotary-Vise-For-Tying-Flies who goes through the details of the Zephr EZ very nicely. There was also an individual who purchased the Renzitti jaws and placed them in the Zephr EZ. He found them a little loose so used some duct tape (as I recall) to make it tight. His conclusion was that it was not worth the effort and expense. The point being that the Zephr EZ looks very much like the Renzitti and you can place your left hand on the top of the vice to hold two feathers for adding wings. The toggle for tightening the jaws is an improvement on the Renzitti, but I purchased a couple of Allen wrenches for dealing with the jaws on the Zephr EZ. I might be 3 seconds slower fastening the hook in the vice, but I am not a production tier either.
The jaws on the Zepr Ez have several holes for adjusting the jaws for holding larger or smaller flies. This point is illustrated very well in the Renzitti video.
There are lots of other vices out there that are excellent, you just need to do some research and decide how much you want to spend.
We will stick with the Zephr EZ Rotary if we can find a couple. I think I saw a price of $85.00 for one and under circumstances will purchase two. If you are shopping also check Google. I see a lot of the Renzitti Traveler vices out there and that is a popular and excellent vice.
JM This is a test. duke energy
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