After many years of loyal services I have decided to not use my Dyna King vise, a Barracuda Trekker Junior model, anymore. Since I spend a lot of time behind the vise tying the kebari that I sell in my own webshop this vise has proven to offer a too low working position. This vise has many good points such as the complete stainless steel construction, rotary function on super smooth ball bearings, stability, very strong jaws that are also very easy to change but I spend a full day working on it I systematically feel a neck hache because of working in a wrong position.
I had long wanted a Regal vise because the head positioning has a very large amplitude (220° up or down) unfortunately these great tools are poorly distributed in Europe and are often sold at ridiculously high prices. After research on the net I did find a fly shop that offered the almost complete range of Regal products at reasonable prices and my choice was the flagship of this collection: the Medallion traditional head.
After a week of wait I finally had the parcel in my hands! I opened it, the vise was lying in a very simple carton box waiting to be assembled and take action. It was fortunate that I did receive the vise this day because I had to tie a lot of kebari for a customer in Belgium.
One of the specifications that made me choose a Regal vise is the fact that the jaws are actioned by a lever and not a rotating cam which means that I will never have to care with jaws settings prior tying kebari on the vise. These jaws are designed to hold hooks from size 22 to 1/0 and that covers even more than my needs.
The hook tightening in the jaws is incredible and I sacrificed a few hooks that ware taken in them. Most of did bend but the part of the hooks taken between the jaws did not move at all.
The vise stem has the swivel shaft clamp knob that can be positioned at the height chosen by the user. That is the feature that made choose a Regal vise. The necessary tool to set up the swivel shaft is included in the box. I finally have a vise on which I can work without having to lower the head. My cervical vertebraes warmly thank the Regal vises team!
Regal offers no less than seven types of bases for their vises, three clamps and four pedestals. I have chosen the Traditional bronze pedestal that most of us have probably already seen because it is a very famous model. It is superb! I can not find another word to describe this beautiful object.
The underside of the base is covered with a cork plate. It does not slide at all whatever is the material of the table where you may use the vise. It is pretty heavy (3,7 lbs) and very stable.
The box in which comes the vise contains two bolts, one is to secure the vise stem on the base and the other one goes under the head and according how it is tightened it will make the head rotary or fixed.
When I did open the box I was a bit surprised by the size of these bolts. They are really huge compared to the ones of my Dyna King! Their diameter is 24 mm and this really eases the use. I am sure that a Regal vise is designed to be assembled blindfolded.
Regal Vises offer of course a lifetime warranty and the booklet included in the box contains very clear use and care instructions to keep this great tool in perfect conditions. I have only owned this vise for two weeks but it has already proven me to be the best choice. Don't we say "A good worker always has good tools"?
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