Clarkfork True Rotary Fly Tying Vise, Gold

This is a nice tying vise. It's just a little smaller that I thought but it works well. I've tied up a dozen or so flies with it and it's smooth. It's solid on the base with no wobble so I guess the manufacturer fixed any issues. Most of the flies I tied were size 16 or smaller and the vise gripped them with no issues. I have not tried larger hooks for streamers, but that's not what I normally fish.

I’m now a fly tying fool. The rotary function opened up a whole lot more potential. Good construction, nice case, Reaonable price. Assembled easy and even came with the tools and instructions.

This vice gets great reviews and I would agree with them but for one aspect. The tightening screw on the rotary arm is spongy, there is a rubber stopper on the end to prevent scraping the arm but this leaves me feeling it’s never “tight” and it does flex and move while tying.

This vise has enough adjustment points to tie flies easily and quickly. Have tied size 22 up to size 2 hooks, although when you get to the biggest hooks you need to be careful that the pinch jaws come apart. Easy to put together if they do.

This is the version with the upgraded upright support stopping the wobble the previous Clark and Colorado vises had. Out of the box the crank stem had play between the stem and the vise head. The 3mm setscrew under the stem sleeve does not stop the play. The stem must be tightened into the head. Remove the 3mm set screw and pull off the sleeve. Then unscrew the stem from the head and put a drop of blue loctite on the threads, then screw in tight but don't strip threads. Reassemble in reverse order. The other setscrews have a fair amount of play so blue loctite will help hold your preferred settings. The stem shaft locking thumb screw doesn't grab the shaft too well but filing a series of very small flats on the shaft where the screw tightens down to stop rotation helps lock it down. After setting up, this vise is solid and smooth as silk. Would buy again. There were a few scratches on the base due to the parts rolling around loose in shipping but no actual damage to anything. For $100 and a 15 minute tweek job this is a hard vise to beat.

I received this vise and had high hopes as an entry level vise. The vise looks great, holds hooks well once you readjust the tension every time you put a new hook in it. Another issue is the rotary function was rough and did not rotate smoothly at all. I adjusted the knob and found that the rotary would not lock and not move. It always moved when I didn’t want it to move. The base is entirely too light. It’s unsteady and wobbles a bit when tying knots or trying to put a little extra pressure when tying. It’s frustrating to me.Do yourself a favor. Do your research. Look at videos, fly tying forums, and reviews of as many vises as you can find. I’ve found that I really like tying jigs and quality equipment makes the work even more enjoyable.I spent $50.00 more and got a vise that is great. Smooth operation, rotary function locks properly and is smooth as silk. It is a clamp style vise. You can buy a base for it but I didn’t as the clamp is great.

The vice is well made and feature rich. Case is a nice touch. There are a couple of flaws that bug me. The two set screws in the jaw assemble come loose, and the jaws themselves don’t seem to want to cooperate consistently with the minor-adjustment knob. I think the little rubber O-ring intended to keep the jaws open keeps moving. This should have been a spring loaded mechanism My biggest grip is the the mounting hole in the base “holder/adapter” is too big and causes the shaft assembly to wobble even when the tightening knob is cranked down. The shaft is designed to fit into a cylindrical “adapter” that fits into the base. I’m not exactly sure why the adapter is removable, however, the hole in the adapter is too big. The shaft actually fits better directly into the hole in the base (that the adapter is designed to fit into) but is then about 3/4” lower and must be locked in with an Allen wrench set screw instead of a knob like on the adapter. I stuffed a piece of material inside the adapter’s hole to keep the shaft from wobbling. Overall I think the vice is a good value, and worth the price, but could have easily been perfect with a few minor mfg. tolerance adjustments/fixes.Two suggested user-installed improvements: go to your local hardware store and buy a suitably sized spring ($0.50) to wrap around the horizontal rotary shaft adjacent to the “jaw arm” for use as a “material clip”. While you’re there, buy a suitably sized rubber “O-ring” ($0.10) and slip it over the vertical vice mounting shaft, a couple of inches from the bottom, but below the bobbin cradle mount. When you mount the bobbin cradle arm, after tightening the screw that holds the arm, the mounting bracket no longer has to be affixed with the set screw, and the arm will easily swing around out of your way when not needed, and quickly swing back into position without having to adjust any screws. Adjust the height of the O-ring the first time so the bobbin cradle arm is at the appropriate “jaw level” height, and you never have to adjust it again. Two cheap add-ones (that do not interfere with storage in the case) that will make your fly tying with this otherwise nice vice more enjoyable.Update: After extensive daily use, the overall product review still stands; however, I messed with trying to “fix” the overly large hole in the base/adapter, with tape, metal shim, pins, etc., but nothing worked consistently. So I broke down and bought a new Griffin iron base. I first measured the diameter of the vise’s shaft, and determined that the shaft was the correct/standard size, and it fits perfectly into the new base. It is much heavier, and the shaft locks tightly into place. I’ll keep the old base/adapter set-up for travel, but will continue to use the after-market Griffin base for my daily use. A bit disappointed that I had to spend an extra $45 just to fix a design/production flaw, making the original $99 purchase price a bit less appetizing. In retrospect, I should have returned the vice when I first encountered the unacceptable wobble issue.Another solution that allows the continued use of the stock base is to invest another $43 in the Peak Vise Riser, that adds additional height and securely fits in the base. Holds the shaft well and makes the kit more functional for travel. The added height also works well in the Griffen base.

Very nice unit for the price. My first rotary vice so I am just learning how to use it. I need to watch a few more videos.Very smooth rotation and the bade is heavy and wide enough to keep the vise in place.