My teenage son has gotten into tying quite a bit over the last year or so. One of the suggestions for his Christmas list is a rotary vise. What suggestions do you guys have?
Thanks

Under $100 Griffin oddysey spider


Or a bit more renzetti

Ribka your link doesn't work or at least on my phone. What vise is that you are trying to link to?

No it does once I refreshed. Thanks

Even though I am huge Renzetti fan, I would not recommend a rotary vise to your teenager. Regal & others have great non-rotary vises with great jaws.

If he insists on a rotary, you pick up a traveler renzetti vise $175 (new) / $125 (used).

Why is that duff? He has been tying for a couple years on a non rotary vise. I think it is a relatively cheap one that came in a kit but has worked ok. He would just like to upgrade. I don't tie except have been learning to help him out so I don't really know much about it as why you wouldn't want one?

Been thinking of upgrading here after 45 years of tying, but can't find anything on shelves that does not come from China. Sort of like clothes though, I don't want to order such an item without first laying hands on it. Suggestions? Rotary or not, just want really good jaws and a heavy pedestal.

Don't know what your budget is but I have been tying on a Regal vise for over twenty years and really like them. I have two, one on a short stem with a brass base for traveling and a long stem one with the smaller midge jaws for tying at home. Regal is family owned and made in MA, USA.

Good rotary vises tend to tend to be expensive. Meant for serious tyers who plan to the same fly couple dozen in a short time frame (ie commercial tyers) or for those who have lost their dexterity in their latter years (such as myself) switch to rotary vises. You are better off spending upgrade $$ on fine scissors, bobbins and diversify your material portfolio, in my humble opinion. You can find an upgraded clamping type vise for lesser $$ than a novice/entry level rotary vise. If he has the passion to tye flies (and I appreciate you supporting him), a half way decent (USA made) rotary vise will be over $200. Knock off imports have inferior jaw strength and lesser warranty.

My every day vise, when I tie (and teach younger thers) is a Renzetti 2304 Traveller on a Pedestal base @ $240. It’s flat matte paint job cuts the glare down than my other Renzetti Presentation vises.

Thanks that's helpful. I just didn't understand the difference. I just assumed they helped or were a big upgrade. Any other suggestions are appreciated.

I have a rotary Dyna-King vise here that I hardly ever use. I tie mostly trout flies, nymphs and drys, up to about #12 and down to as small as #24 and for that I prefer my Regal Vise with midge jaws. Now for the few times a year I tie a few streamers for trout or smallmouth I will use the Dyna-KIng not for its rotary option but just for the larger jaws.

Unless you Palmer/Wrap lots of materials on lots of large flies, size 10 to 4/0, I don/t see a need for a rotary. A friend of mine ties many Musky flies, he make his living tying these flies and guiding musky anglers and for his patterns he wraps lots of fur and feathers and he needs that feature. What little Musky fishing I do it is not worth purchasing the materials to tie with so I just buy those flies.

As others have said, you will get more vise for the money without the rotary feature and I would suggest the Regal.

I've been tying on a Danvise for about ten years, love it. It's a rotary (which I don't do), costs just over $100.

HMH makes a couple of nice vises. Some are rotary, some not. Made here in Maine and have great jaws and great pedestal. I have a HMH Spartan. I've tied 2/0 to 22's on it without issues.

As a member of the Nor-Vise pro staff for many years with my son (since he was about 14) I see a huge advantage in the rotary for a lot of different reasons. Simply being able to look at the entire fly from every angle is worth having the rotary, True rotaries (no Dan-Vises, Renzettis, Regals, etc) are far faster and the ability to lay down materials EXACTLY where you want them is priceless. Trying to add up the hundreds (actually many thousands) of hours I have worked on a vise makes the little additional cost very cheap per hour. Watched my son tie a handful of complicated flies the other evening and realized just how much he gained with the rotary.

I tied commercially for years and was very fast, but nothing compared to what Riley does now. We have spanked the competition in tying contests for years. At 14 the Alaska Fly Fishers rewrote the rules to prevent Riley from running the table, again. His almost-three-year-old is trying her hand at it now.

True rotaries are worth the investment and they will last a lifetime.

Guess, I will have to give a rotary a try. That will require a run to some megopolis where I can do a hands on look prior to purchase. Regional stores and shops pretty much shelve the Chinese crap. .

The ability to examine from any angle would be beneficial for aligning wings, ribs, etc. I know the fish don't care, but when I pull out an example for show, tell, or to share on the river bank, I like them to be perfect.

The successful entities on a recent steel heading trip. Always retire them as soon as the fish comes to hand.

Catching has been extremely slow of recent, so these saw a lot casting.

I was going to recommend the Barracuda Jr. from Dyna King but boy have the prices gone up on it. I got mine used at a reasonable price several years ago. I don't use the rotary feature for production style tying very much but it is easy to spin on some materials like chenille. I am too set in my ways for hackle and deer hair. But it is very useful for checking the balance of the flies as posted above. I still use my Thompson A vise quite a bit especially for large streamers and salt water flies.

I would pass on a too cheap rotary and look for a good used one if possible.

I've been using a Renzetti for the best part of three decades and would feel lost without it. But, I never tied in huge quantities and certainly never commercially.

I have a #18 Royal Wulff that I watched Lee Wulff tie for me personally with, you guessed it, no vise at all just his bare fingers. Quite an impressive feat which I'll never forget. (And the man's fingers were as fat as sausages.)

When I was a lot younger, I saw Lee do that many times at the museum in Roscoe. Their place is just up the road from my camp/club in the Catskills. Trump Jr. has a place on the same road.

Inexpensive rotary vice is an oxymoron. I still use my Thompson A vise even though I have much more expensive ones.

Lee Wulff was pretty amazing first he would tie a fly with no tools and then cast almost a full line with no rod. I think there is a video of him catching an Atlantic Salmon this way.

his ole lady was no slouch, either