Rotary Vice

[hopper]

I bought the Atlas last year and enjoy using it, got it for about £90 from Harvey Angling. It takes a good hold off all sizes of hooks with no movement.

[Wildfisher]

Yes that  Atlas looks like the way to go. Not cheap by neither is it ridiculous. A design that incorporates that 90 bend is essential for working clearance and proper rotation.

[hopper]

I am sure you will look about on the net Fred there was a big difference in price so worth a bit of time.

[johnsd]

That looks like  a nice vice John, based on the law design. How firmly does it hold the hooks?  never had a problem with the hook slipping Fred.For Rotary you have two nuts to adjust it for different hook sizes I set it up for size 12 and leave it for 10 and 14 never really tie outwith those sizes unless the Sun in the right spot I might have a go at a 16  :)cheers John

[Drifter]

 I have a Renzetti Traveler vice, have had it for at least 15 years and tyed thousands of flies with it . It will hold any size of hook and no slipage. Very fine jaws and a true rotary.
Mine was made in america, don't know if they still are. Lakeland flyting have them for around £150- £170.

                                  Jim

[Malcolm]

I never got round to buying a really good vice. If I did it would be a semi rotary, in fact it would be the Griffin Patriot. It allows the fly to be turned around quickly and easily and has the best locking jaws I have ever seen. It's not just me either - Steve Parton reckoned it was in a class of it's own and so do a few others. However at £145 I'll stick to my trusty Weavers which have never let me down.

[Robbie]

I believe that Mr Waldron had input into the design of the Flymate, but could be wrong.  I used to use this vice and found it to be excellent, held hook well and full rotary function. However the axis of rotation had to be adjusted to suit the hook size.

[squeakytyres]

I think I may buy a flymate on the back of this advice. They are most certainly not an expensive option. 

[Allan Crawford]

My first vice which I still use was given to me by my Uncle who taught me to fish and he made the vice (I think) and machined the C clamp, great for tying trout flies and very simple and to me worth more than money. Then I went through a period of trying a few cheap vices settling on a Silver Super A worth about a £5. I carry this offshore, find it ok for trout flies and good for salmon flies especially doubles. Been considering a better quality vice for a few winters now but until you have them in your hands or some one shows you how to use the features I cant make my mind up. Last time through ABDN while killing time in Somers, the Anvil Atlas was recommended , showed me how to use it and now considering buying one on the way home, it is my birthday after all 

Renzetti Traveler has also caught my attention due to email advertising from Lakeland.

Update: Checking a catalogue it was the Anvil Apex not Atlas and having read admins comment not so sure now  :? Also like the look of Dyna King Kingfisher ?

[Traditionalist]

Had quite a few vices over the years. Still have a few. Had all the top end rotary vices as well. I don't think they are worth the bother.  You need to learn different techniques if you want to use a rotary vice and a lot of people have considerable trouble with them. The Law ( and the Waldron) only operate as true rotary vices if you don't tip the jaw angle;

http://globalflyfisher.com/tiebetter/rotate/advantages.php

On a True rotary vice the axis of rotation is the same as the axis of the hook shank.

I mostly use an Anvil apex now;

http://anvilusa.com/apex_fly_tying_vise.htm

with regard to "getting your fingers around the vice" and "room behind the jaws". You may well find that you are a lot worse off with a true rotary as there is a whole lot more in the way than there is with an angled stationary vice. The angle of attack for the hand and fingers is completely different.

( The main reason people tilt the jaws on the LAW which then renders it "non-rotary")

This is a "true rotary";

http://www.flyfishusa.com/fly-tying/vise/renzetti/rz-presentation-2000.htm

This is a cheaper true rotary, but which is excellent for the price;

http://www.caddisflyshop.com/ttrv.html

about the same as the Snowbee flymate;

http://www.troutcatchers.co.uk/acatalog/Snowbee-Fly-Mate-Clamp-Vice---With-Ball-Joint---Fmcv-B-45.html

some more info on that;

http://globalflyfisher.com/tiebetter/rotate/truly.php

http://globalflyfisher.com/tiebetter/rotate/techniques.php

Personally I think most of the purported advantages are spurious at best, and the necessity of learning other techniques is a real nuisance if you are used to a stationary vice. Also some of these techniques are clumsy in themselves.  There are also other problems with rotary vices. If anybody is interested I can go into some of them.

With regard to the Nor Vise I think it's more of  bad joke than a useful piece of equipment.  If you practice a lot you can do various tricks with it. Like spinning dubbing ropes and stuff like that, that you can not do with any other vice, but I can't see the point in that.

Some info here;

http://www.youtube.com/user/norvise