HMH Tube Spinner Vise

HMH Tube Spinner Vise at Alaska West — *The HMH Tube Spinner, hard at work at AK West. Photo: Kyle Shea*

We tie a lot of tube flies throughout the year at our lodges in Alaska, British Columbia, and even in the Bahamas (that’s a topic of another post). Until now, we have tied most of our tubes using tube fly adapters and mandrels made to fit directly into the jaws of any standard fly tying vise. While these work well for the most part, they do have some disadvantages such as limited rotary action, reduced holding strength, and the fact they can cause damage to the jaws of your vise over time.

Well, recently we picked up an HMH Tube Spinner Vise, and we’re super impressed! HMH has been in the tube fly game since before tube flies were cool, and we think this is one of their greatest products yet. The tube spinner is an entirely tube fly specific vise unlike anything we’ve had the pleasure to tie on. Offered in both c-clamp and pedestal base, like all vises, we found the pedestal vice to be best when on the go. If you’re like us, and spend a lot of your time at the bench tying up tubes, you’ll appreciate the HMH Tube Spinner. Here’s a rundown on what we like about it

In line rotary – Tubes are mounted directly into the center of the jaws allowing tubes to be tied using rotary techniques. Mandrels or pins are able to slide through the tube and into the vise allowing it to be rotated 360 degrees on the same axis.
Awesome jaw design – The jaws of the tube spinner gives a super firm hold on all tube materials that we’ve tested it on. Tubes can be mounted directly into the vise with or without a mandrel depending on the strength of the tube material. This is especially great when tying on metal tubes. We found the jaws to accommodate an extremely wide range of tube diameters as well (up to 1/8 inch outside diameter).
Removable handle – The rotary handle can be easily removed by unscrewing it from the vise. Plan on tying in rotary action? Leave the handle in for speedy rotation. Tying more delicate flies? Remove the rotary handle for better fine tuning. Best of all, we found this simple feature to be most helpful when breaking down the vise for travel (something we’ve grown to appreciate while bouncing around from lodge to lodge).
Strong and simple – We’re big fans of the simplicity of the tube spinner. Less parts means more strength. At first glance, it’s clear that the Tube Spinner is made extremely solid. Precision machined and made in the USA, this vise is built for a lifetime of abuse. Add on a lifetime guarantee, and this vise is a no-brainer.

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