Renzetti Master Vise Review “have you got rocks in your head?” My overall take on this vise

So I have been tying on the Renzetti Master Vise for around five months now. This vise has been on my bucket list front and center for quite a while. The vise has been altered very slightly, outfitted with a midge jaw, a vision plate, and a third hand, much like AK Best's vise that I first caught a glimpse of in 1994. Using Renzetti cradle collars and tool bar accessories really helps you customize this vise to best suit your specific tying needs. Yesterday, I was talking with one of the local fishermen on the Mad River and asked to get a peek at my fly box. He didn't tie flies, and he wondered where he could pick up some emergers that he was looking at in my tiny box. I told him, “I tie all my own jewelry.” He then asked me about getting started with a vise he could learn on himself, and I made a few recommendations and mentioned Renzetti's Traveler Vise. The Traveler's Vise comes in at under $400.00 and is an excellent vise. He then asked what I use, and I told him the Master Vise. I don't need to tell you what his next question was. Needless to say, he told me, and I quote, “You have rocks in your head!” I replied by telling him I have rocks in my head for many reasons that have nothing to do with fly tying.

So, there is a fundamental reason why this vice is so remarkable, aside from the fine tooling, the killer craftsmanship, and the reputable name. It's the jaws! The jaws on this vise are what set it into a category all its own. All the rest of the features and benefits of this vice are also well thought out to the nines. Now, with a product such as this, one must also consider all the years of thought, engineering, and design that have gone into it since its inception. Anything made by a small group of craftsmen that involves intricate tooling, much like a medical device, typically has a high ticket value. I will defend all craftsmen and their product prices with extreme conviction, as I too am a rod maker. I have to protect my prices every day. People in general are often ignorant of the process of developing, evolving, and producing a well-thought-out, highly refined product. Let's discuss the time it takes to bring a product to a level like the Master Vise. It takes years and years of evolution. It also requires a significant amount of research and development. This is what makes devices like this so valuable; I didn't say expensive. 

The Master Vise is pure joy to work on. It took me a while to get used to it because I'm used to doing all of my adjusting in the rear end of a collet utilizing a cam. So for an entire month, I kept reaching to the back of this vice to tighten the hook! It was similar to the change from a steering column to a console shifter. I kept reaching behind the vise. Crazy, but I swear I'm still doing it every so often!

Swapping out the defaulted standard jaws with the midge jaws was an easy task. Fitting it with my own creature comforts was easy as well; the third hand and vision plate that I was used to positioning at all angles for years and years transitioned to this vise without a hitch. You can look at it like the vise easily adapted to my own idiosyncrasies. 

The jaws, as I stated at the beginning of this entry, are simple to adjust in a split second and hold the hook in a very positive manner. It is quite a marvel when you inspect the contouring of the cam mechanism. I get frustrated all the time with collet adjustments, but I have put up with their fickle ways for decades. Holding emerger hooks for me was the ultimate test. For some reason, all my old vises just didn't like emergent hooks. It may have been due to the leverage that an emerger hook creates; it's unforgiving. I have had no problems holding hooks of any kind with this vise. My fly-tying experience is much more focused on what is most important... fly-tying.

                                ~Clint Bova               www.cjbovarods.com