Choosing the right guide

I've been doing some reading on building rods. This was a great article on the different types of guides that I thought I would put up.

All About Rod Guides

The biggest decision you have to make when building a custom rod is what color combination you are going to wrap it with. No, just kidding. After picking out the blank of the type and action you need and the color combination you desire, you will need to choose what type of guides to use. Nowadays we have a great many choices of guide types, materials and manufacturers.
Many different materials have been tried over the years to get a smooth hard surface to contact against the fishing line. One of the first materials tried was agate. This is an extremely hard material that could be polished to a smooth finish and would not groove. An excellent guide material except for the fact it is extremely brittle and therefore fragile. If the rod fell and hit right on a rock or a boat deck the agate ring would crack and have to be replaced in order to fish again.

One of the next materials tried was tungsten carbide, commonly called "Carballoy" a General Electric trademark. An extremely hard material that does not groove with monofilament , it works well in the heavier boat rod guide rings. In lighter rings such as spinning guides, it is extremely fragile and also quite heavy.This material is also subject to breakage if receiving a sharp hit on a hard surface. Another problem is that the material will erode over time and exposure to the elements, causing abrasion on your fishing line over time. These were manufactured in the past by the Mildrum Co., who have now discontinued production. Perfection Tip has since started making boat rod tips in this material.

Industrial hard chrome plating has been found to work extremely well as a wearing surface when applied to a good base metal such as stainless steel. The problem with chrome plating is that unless you know the manufacturer of the guide, you could be getting an inferior brass or steel frame under the chrome plating instead of the preferred stainless steel. Also the plating could be nothing more than a decorative chrome plating rather than the preferred industrial hard chrome. The major quality manufacturer of this type of guide is Perfection Tip Co.

Many manufacturers experimented with ceramic over the years, but most of the results resembled glass more than the ceramic materials we have now. The first practical and successful ceramic was brought to us by the Fuji Kogyo Co, Ltd. of Japan. This was the white porcelain guide that was mounted inside a shock absorbing plastic ring. These are still found on inexpensive rods manufactured today, but these are no match to the newer guides available now. This was followed by the first aluminum oxide ring which was over twice as hard as the previous porcelain. This type of guide is usually is usually seen with a black frame and a glow in the dark green shock ring, or a chrome frame with black shock ring. In this series of guides we were also introduced to the first commercially successful single foot guide.

Aluminum oxide guides have evolved from the early heavy rings in a bulky plastic shock ring to today's slimmed down, smoother and harder lightweight models. T he better guides today are typically made with stainless steel frames and either polished or plated in black or gold. The ring materials used today in top quality guides range from inexpensive aluminum oxide, made in a range of styles from U/L spin and fly guides to medium heavy boat rod guides. The heavy models come with a heavy brass frame to better dissipate the heat generated from big strong fish.

Next up the ladder are the silicon nitride ring guides. These are a highly polished harder material in a heavier type of ring mounted into a thin plastic shock ring with a brass frame to better dissipate the heat. If you fish with wire line, these are the rings for you.
The next rung of the ladder, and formerly the top, are silicon carbide guides. These have been the hardest and smoothest ring material available. The light models are mounted in stainless steel frames as the aluminum oxide guides, but certain models are also available with frames made of titanium. This makes an extremely lightweight and strong set of guides, but also kind of hard on the pocketbook. The heavier boat rod guide models are made with a brass frame also.

The latest material available is "Gold Cermet" which stands for Gold Ceramic Metallic. This is a solid gold ceramic that is non corrosive, thinner, lighter and a finish that is twice as smooth as silicon carbide. These are also available in stainless steel and titanium frames. With or without the titanium frames, they will put a dent in your pocketbook.

This takes us up to the present in aluminum oxide and better guides. They are made by many manufacturers, primarily in the Orient, but also here in the U. S. You will be at the mercy of your custom rod building supplier to assure that you are getting the best quality for your money, so choose a supplier that you can talk to and get the correct answers.

Wire guides are still preferred in some areas of the country for particular guides. Snake guides of hard chrome plated stainless steel are the choice all over the world for fly rod guides. They are also available with a black or gold plating, but these in my experience are lacking in durability of the finish. It wears off quickly compared to the hard chrome plating. Titanium snake guides are also available for use in extremely corrosive environments, but again when you mention the word titanium, spell it "DOLLARS".
In the Southern California market, wire guides are still preferred by many people for long range and local fishing both. They are used because they are thought to be more durable and not as fragile as ceramic insert type guides. This used to be true, but not today with the guides being manufactured presently. Wire guides do work fine for this environment if you want to use them.

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