Live edge fly tying vise base

I had a Griffin Odyssey Spider that clamped to the table, but I found that kind of limiting. It was shorter than was comfortable, and I found myself hunching. I wanted something taller that I could move around, so I decided to build a base for it.

I kept my eye out for the right piece of wood for about a week, until I remembered that the previous owner of our house left a live edge slab of maple in the garage that was too shallow to use for a shelf or table. Perfect size for this!

I cut a chunk off, then beveled it with the miter saw, orienting the live edge so that I could use it to take photos of flies on. I sanded it down, then coated it with Tried and True.

I found someone on Etsy selling base stem adapters, which is exactly what I needed to make this happen.

Fly Tying Base Stem Adapter – Etsy

This Fishing item by CanoeCreekSupplyCo has 11 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from New Market, AL. Listed on Jan 19, 2025

www.etsy.com

To add the stem mount, I drilled out a spot to inset it, then drilled out the spot for the securing screw. I did a test fit on a piece of scrap to get it right before drilling out the live edge piece.

The stem adapter will fit most vises (3/8″ stems are standard), so if I decide to upgrade my vise I can keep using the base.

I added rubber to the bottom to keep it from slipping.

I’m really happy with how it turned out! I tied some soft hackle pheasant tails on it already, and it was nice to have them closer to eye level and to be able to move the vise as needed. It didn’t rock or move around at all while tying.

I’m thinking of carving a spot to set hooks (or maybe insetting a magnet), but I wanted to use it for a week first to figure out the location.