Caimore Pro Rotary Fly-Tying Vice

[Wildfisher]

I ordered one of these for my birthday.

A few members over on the chimp enclosure rated it. About £60 inc. postage, worth a try I think

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Anyone here tried them?

[shad]

Not much help but have bought some bits from Caimore and all have been good quality .Looks like a nice simple design , look forward to hearing how you get on with it Fred.

[Wildfisher]

Colin,

Like you I have found Caimore stuff to be very good for the money.

It looks like a clone of the LAW style vices. My guess is the jaws won't be the best, but will probably be fine for the amount of tying I do.  My  Anvil Apex vice is good, but I want  true rotary capability.

I'll do an honest write up on it once I have had the chance to use it.

[Wildfisher]

I got this vice today and have tied a few flies using it. It's a pedestal model. I would never buy a clamp – on – table edge vice these days, pedestal vices are far better, you don't need a table edge of the right size  and they don't scratch furniture. You can use them anywhere on any flat surface. The base has a non slip rubber lower surface which also prevents scratching your table.

The jaw faces are not machine grooved, but hold the hooks very firmly. I tried size 22 down to 2. No problem.

The jaws can be  pre-adjusted for the size range of hooks you are using  with the thumbscrew at the top. The jaws are then clamped shut with the bottom lever. The Allen cap screw seen at the middle point  of the jaws can be used to adjust the level of the hook shank relative  to the axis along the middle of the rotating shaft, thereby allowing perfect rotary action regardless of hook size.

There is a neoprene  o ring just above the jaw locking lever which holds the jaws open when the lever is in the unlock position. This is handy, but not at all essential. You get a spare o ring with the vice.

There is a movable circular spring  on the rotatable shaft which is handy for hanging the thread bobbin on whilst tying if you want it out of the way towards the back. The long 90* wire gizmo at the bottom is adjustable to any position allowing you to do the same thing at the front. All very handy.

The vertical shaft can be turned and locked with a thumb screw. There are a few adjustments on the horizontal rotating shaft for tension and to lock it in place.

The whole thing is quite "petite"  and my first impression was it would be fiddly to use, but this was not the case when I actually used it.

It comes in a plastic carrying case along with a spare o ring and Allen key. It packs away "flat pack"  for traveling.

There is no instruction booklet, but you would have to be pretty thick not to be able to figure it out yourself.  :lol:

Time will tell how long it last, but for the money it seems like a decent vice. Not a LAW or Snowbee Waldorn, but for under £60 you would not expect it to be.