Fly dressing chairs etc

[Traditionalist]

I dress flies on a number of set-ups, but these have to offer me certain comforts! Sometimes I sit and dress flies for 12, 13, 14, hours at a sitting, and if something is not right with my set-up, it causes me problems!

When using stand vices, I have my vice head set at about chin level, or slightly below, and I also use an extender, the "L-shaped" shown here ;  http://www.dyna-king.com/acces...d=078

So I am sitting up straight, and I do not have to bend or stoop at all.

This shows my tying position;


Sometimes I sit on the edge of the chair, usually not. This is not necessary with the extender, but one changes position occasionally anyway.

If you tie for long periods, then it is important to get up now and again and do something else, or stretch a little etc. If you remain sitting for that length of time you may have other problems.

When tying many simple flies, I don?t use a vice anyway.

You may also find these useful, the same principles apply;
http://www.safecomputingtips.com/

http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers....html

http://www.spine-health.com/to....html

The point about having the arm-rests at the correct height is of ABSOLUTELY PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE!  Raising your elbows even slightly to fit the arm rests will quickly cause severe shoulder and neck problems!

If the arm rests are not adjustable, as described in the URL above, then it is best to remove them altogether!

I have to be careful with these things as I have three slipped discs anyway, ( as a result of unrelated injuries), and I take great care to set things up properly, as I otherwise suffer considerable (and unnecessary! ),pain as a result.

May seem a lot of trouble to go to, but it does not take long to set things up correctly, and you will be rewarded by many hours of easy fly-dressing pleasure.

Incidentally, I have often used other people?s set-ups, in their homes etc, and on many of them, I can not even dress for ten minutes without problems!

There is a lot of controversy on vice height, etc etc.  But the setups for the correct chair height and adjustments are UNIVERSAL!   once you have your chair set up correctly, you can move on to things like bench height, vice height etc.

Lastly, I can not dress flies at all on pedestal vices which oblige me to lean over a table, bench and so on.

I have seen one or two people using "extensions" or "pullouts" for pedestal vices to avoid this problem, and when set up correctly it doubtless works. I don?t much like pedestal vices anyway, as unless they have a very heavy base plate, they can wobble and cause other problems.

For me, a clamp vice on my permanent bench is the only way to go. My bench is also made and set up to suit my height etc.

This for instance; http://www.flytyingdesk.com/superbench.html  would not suit me at all.

This might; (as long as the pullout will support the pedestal without wobbling) http://www.gerstnerusa.com/too...n.jpg

This would be OK with an extender as previously described;
http://www.made2fly.com/images/304-filled.jpg

This might be OK on a table top etc ( Note wooden vice extension);
http://www.stoneycreekflytying...2.jpg  but might not be able to support a pedestal vice.

There are lots more examples, but I suppose you get the drift?

This is not a criticism of the equipment mentioned. However, I can tell just by looking at it whether it will be any use to me, and if you know what you want, then you can too!   It is quite easy to make very acceptable equipment suited to your desires and budget. Here are some  ideas for such;
http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum....80237

I don?t use pedestal vices at all. I hate them! =)

They tend to wobble unless very heavy.  I dress very tightly, usually close to the breaking strain of the thread. I don?t like vices that wobble.  They are also very hard to adjust for height etc, and they restrict one?s movement as a rule, when used on a
surface like a table etc.

Here are some pictures of my basic vice set-up, from the side, against a neutral background. I removed various accessories etc, so that you can see properly. ( And of course the camera batteries were dead! That?s why it took a while!)

I mounted the clamp and extender on my computer desk for these pictures, it is higher than my bench, not that this would make any difference, using the adjustments I have with the vice stem and the extender, I can set the vice to any height I like.

All my vices have stems which fit into the "L-extender" shown. ( This is the original Dyna-King extender shown here;  http://www.dyna-king.com/acces...d=078

( I have since made a couple of my own as well) . So I can just swap any vice stem in or out of the extender.  In some cases the vice stems on a few commercial vices were originally different diameters. I machined them down until they fit! Vice stems I have made myself are of course the right diameter to begin with! My tube vices, and various other things,  all fit into the extender, or any of my other clamps etc.

"Standard" vice stems, of 9...9.5 mm  all fit in the extender.  Of course the Dyna-King stems all fit perfectly!

All the others that did not originally fit, Danvise, Renzetti etc, I turned down until they did!

One may also bore out the vice extender itself if required. To 10mm.  ( better 10.3 mm). Then practically all vice stems will fit, but not quite so tightly, and may cause wobble unless the clamping screw is well tightened. The knurled clamping knob on the extender can be well tightened, and used either from the left, or from the right. ( Shown from right in second picture).

The camera angle makes the vice/extender  look "bent", but they are perfectly straight.

All my accessories also fit in such extenders, clamps etc. 

Shown here;

First with a Dyna-King  ( In this case the "Professional);



Then with another vice ( Odames "over and under");


Another angle;


Clear?

Of course I can dress flies on any vice, and I have often dressed flies over a pupil?s shoulder while standing behind him, but I can not do it for long without all sorts of aches and pains, not to mention other intrinsic problems in actually dressing on various less than optimal  set-ups.

One final point incidentally, just in case anybody has the glorious idea of using the extender on a pedestal!  It wont work, unless you have a very very heavy pedestal, as the leverage on the pedestal through the extender is too great!

In my opinion, the only "advantage" a pedestal vice has, is that it can be used on any flat surface. Apart from that, they are just a pain in the butt ! =)

Clamp vices are invariably cheaper anyway!

Using the extender shown, any pedestal vice stem with the right diameter, ( they are usually shorter than clamp vice stems), may be used. The "professional" shown, is actually from a pedestal set- up which I got for a very good price. I have still not found a use for the pedestal, although I suppose you could use it to prop a door open, throw it at the cat, for breaking and entering, battering your wife, or something equally useful? =)

You can buy clamps separately. Some are rather expensive though;
http://www.dyna-king.com/acces...d=056

I can?t now remember which diameter of stem Renzetti clamps accept. Hans ( Weilenmann ) will know.

http://www.ezflyfish.com/rencclam.html

Basically any half way decent clamp will do though, as long as the stem of the extender fits in it.

TL
MC