The finial unit in the Twister range of the WyattLouisJane stable of portable fly tying vices, well probably anyway, as innovations are always on the cards. What started as a simple nut and bolt type construction has evolved into the unit we have now. Still a simple and effective fly tying vise as can be seen a few minor changes have been made. Bearings have been added to the main rotation holder, some units have thrust bearings, some have standard bearings, this results in the reduction, if not elimination of wobble in the rotating head. Creating a much smother rotation action.
Another more obvious improvement is a complete redesign of the jaws. It was found that the original collet type, although able to hold hook, required way more force to do so than was felt satisfactory. They were also better suited to a specific size of hooks, resulting in changing the size of collet depending on the size of fly you were tying. The new design of jaw accommodates a wide variety of hook sizes, making it an all in one type option. Constructed from stainless steel it has to be said that the tips of the jaws do wear some, however this doesn’t detract any from their performance, it’s more of an appearance issue than a function thing. However this being said due to the simple design, hardened steel jaws can be easily produced, however it’s a far more time consuming process and as a result would increase the cost of the vise by a substantial amount. This being the case, and remembering one of our goals was to produce a quality vise that is affordable to all, it seems a bit counterintuitive to increase cost when wear and tear are a fact of any tools life and in this case it doesn’t affect performance. (note: since the publishing of this blog, and using the knife making forge, hardened and tempered spring steel jaws are usually added to each vise as standard. Cost is still a factor but by refining the process we’ve been able to keep them as low as possible.)
What else has been improved? Brass butterfly nuts have been added on the main stem and the rotation arm where the jaws are attached. This allows for very easy assembly and disassembly without the need for spanners, great for packing the unit down when traveling. Also an adjustment nut has been added to the main stem. The purpose for this is to attach accessories such as a bobbin rest, or gallows tool. Both accessories are fitted in the same way, one at a time, or two adjustment nuts can be fitted so both are usable at the same time.
Which brings us to the main stem. It may not look as polished as some on the more expensive brands but as with everything we do, it is all about keeping things simple and effective. For the stem we have used standard M12 diameter stainless steel threaded rod, which is readily available from any stainless steel supplier. It adds a little weight to the vice making it a little more stable on the bench, however having said this, I do like to move my vice around a bit when I’m tying. Normally supplied in 1m length the threaded rod can easily be cut to any length of stem that best suits, and simply fitted to what you have. Then any accessary with an M12 threaded hole can be fitted and easily adjusted to any height on the stem, as is the example of the adjustment nuts as mentioned above. In most cases when I use the bobbin holder I don’t lock it in place. Due to the thread it just sits in place and when I need it I just turn it into position and turn it out of the way when finished.
So overall that’s about it. But how does to function overall? And remember this is just my opinion after a good year of tying flies on this unit. For me it works extremely well. It may not look as sleek as some of the top end range of popular fly vices but does it work as well? As I have neither the means or desire to spend excessive amounts of money on a fly vice I guess I’ll never really know. However what I do know is what I want in a vice. First and for most, any vice has to hold the hook, and this vice defiantly does that, with minimal force. It can be set up left or right handed, and I can adjust the rotation screw at the top of the vice and rotate it at the same time with one hand. Does the big tightening screw on the side of the jaw get in the way? Good question. Actually I often use this to hold long material out of the way, so for me not really.
Positioning hooks in the jaws is relatively easy, as with most jaws of this design. Adjust the screw at the front to the right width and then tighten with the back screw. Some of the jaws we produce have a small spring behind the front screw resulting in the jaws staying closed at the tip until pressure is applied at the back. The reason for this is simply because that’s how I like it. Some people don’t however, so for them the jaws have the spring forward of the front screw so the jaws are in the open position when the front screw is loosened.
Another thing that appeals to me is that anyone who is handy can experiment by making accessories due to the fact this vice is produced with readily available materials. Also should any component be lost or misplaced it can be replaced with ease from most hardware stores.
Finally if you’re like me deep down, the vice is probably not as important as the flies you produce on it, and nowadays I pretty much fish with flies I tie on a Twister MKIII. I sell quite a few nowadays also to some pretty happy customers. It’s a pretty easy hassle free vice to use and I tie some nice flies on it.
And that’s good enough for me.