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.
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.
The Nor-Vise is interesting for sure. The one concern I had was the fact the vise can only be horizontally and wondered if the vise shaft being straight behind the hook caused any issue with access? Maybe I'm overthinking it though. It's not like you need a lot of working space behind the actual bend of the hook in reality? I need to watch some video on this one.
I do see that once you add the based, the price for the standard vise starts getting up there. Could the vise and bobbin rest be installed easily on a homemade base? I have a heavy butcher block board that I use for a Wicked Edge sharpening system that might work. Save some money.
And, do most people use the standard inline jaws or would the offset fine point jaws be a good option?
Sorry for all the questions.