Hey,

I've been working with guide placement and guide sizing for some time. I have read all the articles and tried many of the methods and suggestions I've been given, generally with good results. However I am confused by something. When I go to buy guides they are almost universally described by ring diameter. However ring diameter is only one measurement of the guide and not necessarly the most important when I am designing a rod. The guide height, from the bottom of the foot to the inside of the ring is of at least equal value value to me but I can not find it without a fair amount of effort. As I like to design my rods on paper before I start building them this is a frustrating problem. Even when I use the new concept guide system often suggested here, if I dont have a complete set of guides I'm lost. Why is it so hard to find this in the sales information. If I need to buy a tire, the diameter alone tells me nothing and while I may not need a full set of engineerings specs there are some generic specs that are important to select even a basic tire.

Any thoughts

As always, Thanks

Jim

Jim,

I agree with you completely. Snake guides have ruled supreme for so many years that nobody ever though too much about any feature other than the diameter (which is misleading anyway. How do you measure the inside of a 180 deg. spiral? How do you account for the rod acting as the base of the guide "ring"?) The more rods that I build, the more I pay attention to the quality of the guides. I've recently built some excellent rods where the cost of the guides is about 50% of the cost of the blank, and cost about the same as the reel seat + cork.

I'm hoping that the manufacturers will begin to give better specs to builders other than ring diameter (which varies between manufacturers anyway). Perhaps forum members might begin to compile measurements for a guide database?

Jim

Jim,

I agree with you completely. Snake guides have ruled supreme for so many years that nobody ever though too much about any feature other than the diameter (which is misleading anyway. How do you measure the inside of a 180 deg. spiral? How do you account for the rod acting as the base of the guide "ring"?) The more rods that I build, the more I pay attention to the quality of the guides. I've recently built some excellent rods where the cost of the guides is about 50% of the cost of the blank, and cost about the same as the reel seat + cork.

I'm hoping that the manufacturers will begin to give better specs to builders other than ring diameter (which varies between manufacturers anyway). Perhaps forum members might begin to compile measurements for a guide database?

Jim

Batson gives all such specs in their color catalogue. Fuji's info are available on their website (Fuji Japan, not Angler's Resource.).