FLYMPH FORUM

i am looking for a vise that will hold small hooks in the #18 to #24 size and was curious as to what vise recommendations anyone could provide me. i know that this is a subjective question and was thinking of a regal or a hmh vise. thanks in advance for your responses. otto

The Regal will do it, but I would get the midge jaws. I have tied down to 32's on my Renzetti Traveler.

I like both my Regal and Renzetti Traveler and tie most of my small flies on an old Thompson (with midge jaws) but I will buy a HMH Spartan with the micro jaws when I buy another vise.

I use the HMH Spartan with midge jaws and have no problem with sizes 20-26 (other than my eyes!). One word of caution with the HMH is that I received a base which required an allen wrench to tighten the vise in the base which I did not like at all. Fortunately being a pack rat I had several other bases of which a couple worked fine. Check with your dealer or HMH and if they are sending you the allen wrench type as opposed to the one they show in their brochures and magazine ads, I recommend you forget the base and get a discount if you have other bases available.

We've had 3 different Renzetti Travelers........use to be bout the best vise there was for what it cost.........but all of Renzetti's vises are not what they once were. For my money they are not made as well as they were at one time.....they got to bo so successfull.............well, you know, the "same ole' story, of love and glory"........
HMH makes a great little vise............but be sure you get "True" rotary...........i hate a vise that does not turn over a fly on a flat plane........specially when your finishing your heads...........that's a pain in the ass. Same deal goes for the Regal.........
if i were you, and i knew what i know.........i'd get the Jay Vise.......they have a FANTASTIC Midge Jaws that you can get. EXTREMELY easy to open and close and no adjustments for sizing........size 32's are a breez....... Nicest Midge Jaws i've EVER seen. http://www.jvise.com and i'd tell you the same thing even if i wasn't on their Pro Team
btw, you'll have to find a fly shop that sells (deals in) Wasatch Tools.....Wasatch is who imports the JVise into the U.S., OR.....you can go directy to Jay's website and get it from him.....but he's in South Africa and you'll pay a lot in shipping.

read above first........and in case you can't find the midge jaws.........go to accessories ( http://www.jvise.com ), and scroll down........you'll see it

Hi,
Well, I started years ago with a Thompson Model A. When I finally broke down and got a new vise, it was an HMH Spartan. Well worth the money. I love it. Midge jaws are a must for smaller hooks, but I tell you, they are a snap to change from the standard jaws to midge. I believe the Spartan also might also have jaws for doing tube flies, if you are into that.

Mark

I had a Thompson model "A" for Many years, it finally came apart on me. About 10 or 12 years ago I picked up a Regal with
the regular jaws and the midge jaws. Its still going strong.

I've tied with regal for a few years (regular jaws) and now a Dyna King for the past several. I've used, but never owned a Renzetti and also a HMH and found them to be very solid too. Today, even as opposed to 15years ago, you can get great vises that offer the midge jaw option, and it would be hard to go wrong with any of the good ones. You have a lot of good options. I think you get what you pay for and find a good company that will back up their product and can service one easily. I would highly recommend the Dyna King either Professional or Voyager types with both the standard and midge jaws. They switch out very easily. It's been a long time since I was jonesing for a new vise so I think I found a winner.

w

thank you everyone for your input. has anyone used the norvise or care to comment on the norvise. thanks again for your responses.