What are the advantages of a boron blank? Who makes them?

None, really. In fact, very few companies ever successfully marketed boron rods, and those that did were only about 20% boron at best.

Boron is quite large in diameter compared to most graphite fibers. It's hard to work with, expensive, and made by only one or two companies presently. It does not represent any practical advantage over graphite in terms of use in a fishing rod and thus the expense and hassle of working with it are not worth the time and trouble.

It does make a good "gimmick" for sales purposes, however. Currently only Winston uses it, as far as I know, and that would be in a line of fly rods only.

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Here is Winston's marketing copy.

Boron IIx
Introduced last year, our Boron IIx rods have redefined the fast-action category. Featuring second-generation boron/graphite composite, they're powerful, responsive, very accurate and have the widest casting range in the Winston line. Imagine a rod that loads easily for delicate presentations up close, yet can make very long casts of 100 feet. Until the Boron IIx series, this was unheard of in a fast-action rod. They're also close to an ounce lighter than any comparable weight models on the market; all unnecessary weight has been eliminated from the ferrules, and the rods are all available with a graphite reel seat. Fast-action, incredible casting range and incomparable Winston quality. We urge you to cast a Boron IIx today.


Why Boron?
We first started using boron/graphite composite in 1997. It's an unusually strong material with a very quick recovery rate and is ideal for designing rods that can generate extremely high line speeds. Boron IIx is the second generation of this composite, and the features of this new material have allowed us to create the most advanced fly rods in the world. They have all the strength and power of boron, while being very lightweight and offering the rare ability to fish at close, medium or long distances with equal aplomb.

That was written by an advertising person. The action of a rod is independent of the material used to make it. There is absolutely nothing in that ad copy that any other company could not say about their graphite rods.

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I just bought a new X-glass fly rod blank that has the all new 'acclimated time-released modulated action!' I would like to see somebody build a boron rod with that type of modern action. Hah!

Obviously I am making a joke. But that is what most rod company catalog advertising is. A joke. Not that those winston rods will not be good. I am sure that they will be. But so is everybody elses rods too. It just reads good in the catalog.

Yes, I remember the RodMaker article.

:D

I do not know about this "second generation boron" as a material to make a blank from but I do not see how it can compare to modern 2nd and 3rd generation graphites. Boron has a high modulus of elasticity like graphite but it is about 50% heavier and has about 50% lower tensile strength. This means that a blank of boron, or any percentage of boron will be slower, have lower resonant frequency and tip velocity, due to the additional weight, be less sensitive due to the weight and will break easier due to the lower tensile strength.
If Tom is correct about the fiber size, and I am confident that he is, then this will also limit what can be done in terms of the design of the blank.

I have a 6 weight Fenwick boron from years ago that I really like. A bit heavy, but fast. I wouldn't pay $300 for a Winston blank though.

emory, are you an engineer? I don't even know what half those words in your post mean--but I get the gist. What's funny is that they say the exact opposite.

Sean,
I better not be contradicting myself or I am even dumber than I thought. There is nothing very difficult to understand in my post. You can think of the modulus as how ridgid or stiff the material is and you can think of tensile strength as just how much can you bend the blank before it breaks

Well, I guess I'm swimming against the stream here, but the best 3 or 4 ultralight spinning rods that I ever had were boron. In fact my favorite was a remainder that I bought for $7.00. Incredibly sensitive. I'd like to have some more. Of course my favorite ultralight spinning reel was a Quick.

They ( the boron rods) were somewhat brittle, which is why I speak of them in the past tense.

I don't know how it compares with Boron, or even in reference to this topic, but an old timer who made his favorite rod was form berylium.
I believe it's more a nostalgic thing than it is functional or practical. He caught a lot of fish with it, so it had to be 'the best'. Boron probably fits into a similar niche and as pointed out with advertiing can get a lot of attention. I'de stick to quality graphite, and probably those domestically in the industry which offer them over time and upgrade when for the technology available to anglers interest. Generally the boron blanks or rods I've encountered were of a duller and heavier quality than a high grade graphite. Such also was the 'berylium' which the old timer swore was the best thing at the time.

The trouble with all the hype is that a lot of fishing people see this stuff and think they are getting better rod???

I'm sorry emory. Winston's marketing copy contradicts what you are saying. They say it is lighter and faster than graphite. Sorry for the confusion.

Quote

The trouble with all the hype is that a lot of fishing people see this stuff and think they are getting better rod???

That's why I asked.

Best reels I ever owned were Quicks, too. The old ones with the worm gear drive systems. Nothing else compares.

I'll bet your rods were nice not so much because of the material they were made from, but because of the overall design involved. And I'll bet there was very little boron in them to begin with. I think the point is that the design of the rod is the main factor to consider, at least once you move to a point where you're using any fiber that would be considered of modern stiffness or power to weight ratio.

Anything rod you could build with boron could be built with graphite and it would likely be lighter and less expensive.

The boron rods that I remember were quite brittle and had a tendency to snap. What would be "interesting" would be blank constructed of boron in the base/butt section of the blank with reduced composition (percentage) toward the tip (?replaced with graphite?).. Similar to Ugly Sticks with clear fiberglas tips only grapite to the tip. The added weight in the butt would likely be rendered meaningless, or possibly improve overall performance (how many folks have weighted the butt sections of rods for balance). And the thickness of the blank at the butt could also be thicker walled to off set any issue of tensile strength. The thicker walls could also improve the responsiveness (faster recovery/faster action). That having been said... the likelyhood of such a rod is 'thin on the ground' as it would take some serious design/engineering/test before it made it to the market place and todays variety of composites really meet any need you might have.

Ken,
You make a good point but I think that an even better approach would be to make a blank from standard modulus graphite in the butt section and then higher modulus graphite toward the tip. In fact, I think that you are going to see this from a couple of manufacturers very soon.

Emory -
I "think" (not sure / haven't seen one) that the American Tackle "Matrix" series blanks have that.

OK I have read here that the high end or high modulus blanks and rods tend to be more brittle?? So are we not doing the same thing only with graphite?? Yes it will be a lot lighter, but more brittle and more apt to break?? Maybe it's that - to much of a good thing???

Ken Preston Wrote:
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> The boron rods that I remember were quite brittle
> and had a tendency to snap. What would be
> "interesting" would be blank constructed of boron
> in the base/butt section of the blank with reduced
> composition (percentage) toward the tip (?replaced
> with graphite?).. Similar to Ugly Sticks with
> clear fiberglas tips only grapite to the tip. The
> added weight in the butt would likely be rendered
> meaningless, or possibly improve overall
> performance (how many folks have weighted the butt
> sections of rods for balance). And the thickness
> of the blank at the butt could also be thicker
> walled to off set any issue of tensile strength.
> The thicker walls could also improve the
> responsiveness (faster recovery/faster action).
> That having been said... the likelyhood of such a
> rod is 'thin on the ground' as it would take some
> serious design/engineering/test before it made it
> to the market place and todays variety of
> composites really meet any need you might have.

I think there are several folks already doing this--if you can believe their marketing copy. ;)