A.K. Best Vise?

Is anybody here familiar with the A. K. Best Vise? It may have been from a
company called AK's Tools. I don't think they are being made anymore.

I have seen a pedestal version used by Shane Stalcup in some of his
videotapes.

The reason I ask is that my local fly shop took one in on trade and now is
selling it for $90. It is a clamp model with the midge jaws (or at least it
looks like a midge jaw).

Is this a fair price for a vise that isn't being made anymore? I've heard
some rumors that they had trouble with the jaws being fragile or brittle.
Any truth to that?

I already have a Renzetti Traveler pedestal vise and it is a good vise.
Still I do like the looks of the AK Vise.

Thanks in advance.

-John

"JohnR" wrote in message
ink.net...
Is anybody here familiar with the A. K. Best Vise?
snip

The reason I ask is that my local fly shop took one in on trade and now is
selling it for $90. It is a clamp model with the midge jaws (or at least
it
looks like a midge jaw).

Is this a fair price for a vise that isn't being made anymore? I've heard
some rumors that they had trouble with the jaws being fragile or brittle.
Any truth to that?

I already have a Renzetti Traveler pedestal vise and it is a good vise.
Still I do like the looks of the AK Vise.


If the Renzetti is working for you, and you only want the AK vise for the
aesthetics, then spend the money and buy it and look at it while using the
Renzetti. Kind of like asking yourself how much would you pay for a 200 year
old bamboo rod that you know you'll never fish with.

By looks, I didn't mean the aesthetics. I meant it appeared to be a decent
vise with some nice features.

-John
"Hooked" wrote in message
...
"JohnR" wrote in message
ink.net...
Is anybody here familiar with the A. K. Best Vise?
snip

The reason I ask is that my local fly shop took one in on trade and now
is
selling it for $90. It is a clamp model with the midge jaws (or at least
it
looks like a midge jaw).

Is this a fair price for a vise that isn't being made anymore? I've
heard
some rumors that they had trouble with the jaws being fragile or
brittle.
Any truth to that?

I already have a Renzetti Traveler pedestal vise and it is a good vise.
Still I do like the looks of the AK Vise.


If the Renzetti is working for you, and you only want the AK vise for the
aesthetics, then spend the money and buy it and look at it while using the
Renzetti. Kind of like asking yourself how much would you pay for a 200
year
old bamboo rod that you know you'll never fish with.

JohnR wrote:

Is anybody here familiar with the A. K. Best Vise? It may have been from a
company called AK's Tools. I don't think they are being made anymore.

I have seen a pedestal version used by Shane Stalcup in some of his
videotapes.

The reason I ask is that my local fly shop took one in on trade and now is
selling it for $90. It is a clamp model with the midge jaws (or at least it
looks like a midge jaw).

Is this a fair price for a vise that isn't being made anymore? I've heard
some rumors that they had trouble with the jaws being fragile or brittle.
Any truth to that?

I already have a Renzetti Traveler pedestal vise and it is a good vise.
Still I do like the looks of the AK Vise.

Thanks in advance.

-John

I went throught the same exercise once after having seen the same tapes. In
short the vise isnt
being made anymore and you will be very lucky if you happen to find one in any
store. Your
best chance is to find one on eBay, but I have not seen one listed in a long
time.

Personally I decided to get something similar (HMH Pro) and that work very
well.

On Thu, 06 May 2004 03:54:34 GMT, "JohnR" wrote:

Is anybody here familiar with the A. K. Best Vise? It may have been from a
company called AK's Tools. I don't think they are being made anymore.

I have seen a pedestal version used by Shane Stalcup in some of his
videotapes.

The reason I ask is that my local fly shop took one in on trade and now is
selling it for $90. It is a clamp model with the midge jaws (or at least it
looks like a midge jaw).

Is this a fair price for a vise that isn't being made anymore? I've heard
some rumors that they had trouble with the jaws being fragile or brittle.
Any truth to that?

I already have a Renzetti Traveler pedestal vise and it is a good vise.
Still I do like the looks of the AK Vise.

Thanks in advance.

-John

There was a problem early on with the jaws being too brittle.
I have played with this vise several years ago, and found it to
be junk, it will barely hold a hook, and those are not midge jaws,
that is the standard jaw for that vise. Stay with Renzetti.

I tie on the C-Clamp model and really like it a lot. It was a gift and at
first i was unsure if I'd like it as it was a far stretch from my favorite
regal, I now do 90% of my tying on it.

YMMV

--
Clark Reid
http://www.dryflynz.com
Umpqua Designer Flytier


"JohnR" wrote in message
ink.net...
Is anybody here familiar with the A. K. Best Vise? It may have been from a
company called AK's Tools. I don't think they are being made anymore.

I have seen a pedestal version used by Shane Stalcup in some of his
videotapes.

The reason I ask is that my local fly shop took one in on trade and now is
selling it for $90. It is a clamp model with the midge jaws (or at least
it
looks like a midge jaw).

Is this a fair price for a vise that isn't being made anymore? I've heard
some rumors that they had trouble with the jaws being fragile or brittle.
Any truth to that?

I already have a Renzetti Traveler pedestal vise and it is a good vise.
Still I do like the looks of the AK Vise.

Thanks in advance.

-John

Last Chritmas I bought one of those on Ebay. From a technical point of
view I must say it is perfect. The jaw will hold anything from size 24
to 4 without any problem what-so-ever. But you must leart how to take
advantage of the tiny grooves of the jaw first. If you place the hook
incorrectly it will not work


If you like a traditional vice that is not a "true" rotary I firmly
believe there is not better vice available at any price, and there has
never been. The original price tag from the shop is still om my box
and it says $389,95 In my opinnion it was worth every penny. At $ 90
it is a stal. I bought mine for $150 and paid shipping to Norway + 24%
import duty and I'm still very satisfied with the deal.

(I might exchange it for a Renzetti MASTER but then I believe you ae
looking at some $600 ?)

So if it's still there, and if you've got $90 to spend - run for it!
Regards
Jan Erik, Oslo, Norway




On Thu, 06 May 2004 05:50:23 GMT, "Hooked" wrote:

"JohnR" wrote in message
link.net...
Is anybody here familiar with the A. K. Best Vise?
snip

The reason I ask is that my local fly shop took one in on trade and now is
selling it for $90. It is a clamp model with the midge jaws (or at least
it
looks like a midge jaw).

Is this a fair price for a vise that isn't being made anymore? I've heard
some rumors that they had trouble with the jaws being fragile or brittle.
Any truth to that?

I already have a Renzetti Traveler pedestal vise and it is a good vise.
Still I do like the looks of the AK Vise.


If the Renzetti is working for you, and you only want the AK vise for the
aesthetics, then spend the money and buy it and look at it while using the
Renzetti. Kind of like asking yourself how much would you pay for a 200 year
old bamboo rod that you know you'll never fish with.