Fly Vise w/ Inline Rotary vs. Rotary Function - How helpful is inline truly?

Aleforme

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
So I didn't want to hijack a couple more recent thread on getting into fly tying so I'm posting this.

I've just been getting into tying and I've mainly been doing 1/8th oz to 1/4oz jigs for gear fishing but have started to tie to leaches and buggers for fly fishing. I'll get into other patterns at some point but starting slow. Get good at doing a few things well and then expand from there.

With that in mind, I'm looking to upgrade my vise since the super cheap kit vise I have it a bit of a pain to use. I've been look at the usual suspects from Peak and Renzetti and also the Regal. The Peak and Renzetti on true inline rotary spinners but the Regal, while rotary, is not a true inline rotary vise. Price, while a consideration, is not a limiting factor. Just want by once and cry once as they say.

My question is for those of you who have been tying for years, is having a true inline rotary vise that big of an advantage over the Regal which is not truly inline? It rotates the fly but not on a precise single axis. Is having a fly spin on a single axis that big of a deal in real life use? It seems like it wouldn't be but I really have no clue or experience to form a opinion. I haven't been able to get my hands on any of these yet but I really like the design of the Regal with the easy to use cam clamp system. But, not married to the Regal, thus the question.

Thanks in advance and I hope my question makes sense?

Jim

Just tied this one. Not great but will get the hang of it but might have gone a little too heavy on the material? Just using what I had on hand as practice.

ZYbqhUGl.jpg
 

tkww

Steelhead
I enjoy inline rotary for tying. I would say that the larger the pattern, the less needed it is. If your rib is or even hackle isn't perfectly spaced on say a woolly bugger, you can barely tell. But if you mis-space your ribbing on a size 18 nymph, it sticks out really obviously. So for that stuff I enjoy being able to flip it over and still have it be level and tieable while I'm looking at the other side. I don't usually use the rotary for actually winding materials.

But one nice thing about non-inline is that you can typically get your wrist down lower, making it easier to get your fingers (material) down onto the hook. With an inline, the vice arm is usually blocking where your wrist would naturally be.
 

Aleforme

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
In-line is essential for me, both for tying with the rotary function, and more often when simply rotating a fly to access tying on different sides without changing the overall angle.
Thanks, that makes sense. If nothing else, it would make it easier for sure. I know with the higher end Regal Revolution you can set the hook so it's dang near inline but not 100% like other inline rotary vises. But, getting into bigger $$$ then.
 

Aleforme

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
I enjoy inline rotary for tying. I would say that the larger the pattern, the less needed it is. If your rib is or even hackle isn't perfectly spaced on say a woolly bugger, you can barely tell. But if you mis-space your ribbing on a size 18 nymph, it sticks out really obviously. So for that stuff I enjoy being able to flip it over and still have it be level and tieable while I'm looking at the other side. I don't usually use the rotary for actually winding materials.

But one nice thing about non-inline is that you can typically get your wrist down lower, making it easier to get your fingers (material) down onto the hook. With an inline, the vice arm is usually blocking where your wrist would naturally be.

This actually make a bit of sense to me. I'm a big guy with some clubs as hands. I have seen some reviews indication the same limitation with true inline rotary vises. That's what somewhat intrigued my with the Regals, lot of position adjustments can be made. The jaws can be set perfectly horizontal, vertical or anywhere in between. Since I do tie a bunch of larger jigs, my maybe not to rational thinking in my own head, was that I might have a little more room with the regal?
 

tkww

Steelhead
This actually make a bit of sense to me. I'm a big guy with some clubs as hands. I have seen some reviews indication the same limitation with true inline rotary vises. That's what somewhat intrigued my with the Regals, lot of position adjustments can be made. The jaws can be set perfectly horizontal, vertical or anywhere in between. Since I do tie a bunch of larger jigs, my maybe not to rational thinking in my own head, was that I might have a little more room with the regal?
It's definitely easier to position/place and control materials when you don't have "v" of the arm kicking back up. If you've been using a kit vice I'm guessing it's of similar (non-inline) form factor, even if it doesn't rotate. So my only other thought would be to see if you could locate an inline rotary (a shop, a friend, a local fly fishing club) and if not actually tie on it, at least kind of go through the motions and see what you think.

With the Regal, you could at change it to level for those times/patterns when you did want to be able to check your work on the other side.
 

Buzzy

I prefer to call them strike indicators.
Forum Supporter
Not to hijack and not intending to be sarcastic but, at least for me and for a lot of folks, vises become a bit like fly rods. One isn't enough - actually that's not true in my case even though I'm on my fifth vise. I tied with a Regal for years but it's tired and needs to be repaired at the factory. I could never seem to get past Regal's office answering person to ask a few questions of their vise builder(s), so I bought a Renzetti Traveller. I love the Renzetti. the Regal is gathering dust.
 

Divad

Whitefish
@Zak I second this. For me the Peak was a no brainer, it is the heaviest base for a pedestal

For rotary, the Regal rotary function will be used differently than say the Peak or a Griffin. From a world renowned tier who never uses a rotary function “it’s faster to wrap”, he never uses rotary and ties on a Regal. I debate the faster point but...

In the end it’s preference. I will say true axis rotary allows for other uses like spinning your own brushes.
 

Zak

Legend
Forum Supporter
The full rotary does make it easy to tie fast durable buggers. Chenille up, feather back, wire up, all counterwrapped while wrapping in one direction.
 

Kilchis

Life of the Party
Forum Supporter
Consider why you want to rotate the fly. Is it so you can easily wrap or palmer a component, or do you just want to look at the back side without turning the vise around? With my Renzetti I can rotate the jaws with one finger while wrapping on chenille, flash, wire, etc. With my trusty old pedestal Price it takes two hands to rotate the jaws, one to hold the stem and the other to press in and turn the spring-loaded back knob to flip the fly over. I don't know how simple it is to rotate a Regal.
 

FlyGuy

Just Hatched
Forum Supporter
I have tied on a Renzetti for 20+ years. It rotates the shank of the hook in the jaws as though it is an in-line vise like the Norvise. I rarely use it unless I'm in a production mode tying several dozen flies of the same pattern in different sizes.

Using a rotary is an individual thing, how you tie and what you tie is more likely to make a difference in your choice of vise. I always thought I wanted a Norvise but never felt I could justify the expense. The Renzetti has been a good choice for me at a lower price point than some of the other vises suggested here but without sacrificing quality. But the choice is yours and doing what you are doing...Researching and asking questions is the best way to inform yourself to make the best decision for you. Hope that helps...Let us know what you decide and after tying with it for awhile let us know what you think of your choice!
 

headduck

Steelhead
Really. Just gotta jump. Too many choices.

Im new myself. Went through the same torture.... they all seem similar but yet so different...

I found a nice used renzetti for $125. Seemed small and cute once i put hands on it. Think it has larger jaws as I can tie big salt all the way dow to small guys I dont use. Works great.

Wish I had a longer post for clamping to the desk but its fit all my needs so far.

If I found a dyna, peak, regal, or norvise for similar coin would have done that.

Seem many like what they found (first real dollar vise) and keep with it. There a few exceptions who have half dozen or more... but the renzetti I got was replaced by the PO with another renzetti.

I do like the heft of the regal, and if I were to find a revolution at an affordable price, I'd give it a go.
 

Aleforme

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
Wow, thanks everyone for their opinions and feedback. I think like pretty much everyone has mentioned or hinted at, it really comes down to preference. Between the three I'm looking at (Peak/Renzetti/Regal), they each seem to have their pros and cons. Go figure!

I think my local Fly shop has a couple Renzetti's in stock or at least use one there at the shop. I'll try and go there this weekend to get my hands on it.

I have determined if I did go with a Regal, it would be the Revolution model and that's some pretty big $$$. So, definitely something to think about when the other 2 are less than half the price and still very good quality that should easily last all my fly tying time left on this earth.

I also think from what I have read, all of these vised would be fine with the larger 1/8 and 1/4 oz jigs heads I tie. I'll probably tie some larger jig for salmon at some point so I need to look into each to make sure they can handle the larger hooks. Each manufacture says they will but it would be good to get some real world advise from users.

Has any found any issues tying larger flys or jigs had for Salmon/Steelhead?

Thanks again for all the help. It's great to be able to come here and get some real world opinions void of the typical online "my vise is the best because that's what I own" users.

Jim
 

Norm Frechette

Googlemeister
Forum Supporter
i have used a renzetti traveler since 1988 and never had a problem with it. the more i used it the less i used the rotary function.

i tie a lot of atlantic salmon and steelhead hairwing style flies and mainly use the rotary function for wrapping evenly spaced ribbing (i can wrap ribbing without that function) and barely use the rotary function for much more than that. maybe an occasional hackle

its all up to you how you spend your money

i would recommend going to a fly shop that sells the brands youre looking to buy and at least try them out before shelling out $$$
 

SurfnFish

Life of the Party
Forum Supporter
When it comes to rotary vises there's Nor-Vise and than everything else. Combined with Norm's auto-bobbins, it is a brilliant design and hella fun to use. The only 'downside' is it requires a 14" to 18" span between vise and bobbin post, so more suitable for a designated tying station.
 
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nwbobber

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
I started on a crappy version of a Thompson model A that wouldn't hold a hook without superglue. Next vise was a regal, I loved that vise and used it for many years. Best thing about it is the speed loading a hook into it. never have to adjust the jaws, it just works. Mine could spin, but that was only to be able to see the other side or work from the bottom... mostly I used it just to look. My first rotary was a Griffin, and honestly I never got it. The rotation didn't do any more than another vise that I could rotate to see what I was doing. It gathered dust. Then I inherited a Norvise. Now this thing took some getting used to, I watched a few of Norms (RIP) videos and I found that I really liked this vise. Spinning dubbing loops was cool on it, ribbing is a whiz, any fly like wooly buggers that are basically tied in the round are extremely fast to tie on it, and you can lock it down quickly to tie in the conventional way, although I still like a conventional vise for the ergonomics of that. If the Norvise was the only vise I had though, it wouldn't suck.
 

Aleforme

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
i have used a renzetti traveler since 1988 and never had a problem with it. the more i used it the less i used the rotary function.

i tie a lot of atlantic salmon and steelhead hairwing style flies and mainly use the rotary function for wrapping evenly spaced ribbing (i can wrap ribbing without that function) and barely use the rotary function for much more than that. maybe an occasional hackle

its all up to you how you spend your money

i would recommend going to a fly shop that sells the brands youre looking to buy and at least try them out before shelling out $$$

I'm going to try and check out at least the Renzetti. I'll see if I can find the other locally.
 
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