Can someone define what a properly ground guidefoot is? I do snake and singlefoot guides mostly, and I'm not sure how a prepared guidefoot should look. Should it be rounded over the top or a slowly sloping flat surface back to the guide itself? I can't recall any of my books actually defning the process and the result.
Thanks

RodMaker Magazine has had several articles on prepping guide feet and included in each of them, were photos of how a properly ground foot should look. It would hard to describe - it really needs a photo to show it so perhaps someone will put up a photo of their own prepped guide feet on the photo page. Just one or two should do the trick.

..........

Hi Tom! I may have started to receiving the magazine after the articles ran. I'll have to go through my back issues, but I can't remember seeing any guide prep articles since I've become a subscriber. Are those back issues still available? I read the latest issue and I'm aware things will be changing in your new digs.

Oops! Bad me! Mike Barkely sent me a photo thread of a finished guidefoot from the archives. I'm just wondering is their a definition of a finished guidefoot. What kind of profile are we aiming?

Bruce, I like to do mine tapered from front to back on the top and sides, and then feather the edges so that it is rounded.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

This picture was posted some time ago: [www.rodbuilding.org]

Lynn

Mike, that's exactly the photo Mike sent me. Thanks

Volume 8 #1 has a nice article on a simple way to prep guides. Also a good before and after photo of how the foot should look.

...........

Bruce,

You want to grind it with th following goals in mind..

1) taper front "ramp" so thread goes up over the foot without a space.
2) taper sides of feet so as to minimize "tunnels" under thread beside feet.
3) clean up bottom of foot so there are no burrs and surface fits blank.

Bruce, I also like to grind the bottom of the guide foot, especially on saltwater guides with two feet. It allows the guide to sit flatter on the blank and makes a better "ramp" for the thread. This work well especially with A thread which doesnt cover as much territory as C or D.

I often wonder if teh benefits of guide grinding outwiegh the negatives. Specifically on SW rods, where it seems every single rod I've ever seen used hard has at least 1 or 2 guids which have had the epoxy crack, adn teh ground guidefoot underneath with some degree of discoloration/rusting.

Billy,

I've also wondered why the manufacture's don't create a "stamp"/mold or whatever for their guides that have a perfectly shaped foot to begin with? The dollars saved in steel might just pay for the new stamps over time? You know there will be less material.


DR

Billy; Are you talking single or double overwrap on the guides that cracked at the guide foot.

Bruce, not too long ago I ordered a back issue of RM solely for the guide foot prep article, and what a revelation. It is easy, fast, and effective. I'm at work right now so I don't know what issue it was, but I'm sure you can find it. Never again will I prep them by hand.

Pat, Tom advised me it is the Volume 8 #1 issue. I hope I still have it at home. If not, I'm going to backorder it. Thanks, Pat.

Jim U - single wrapped.

I also dont' want to hijack Bruce's thread, but as a newbie building his first two fly rods I've got a couple of questions regarding the steps taken to dress the guides to end up like the picture.
How do you anchor the guide while you are filing and /or grinding the top and the bottom of the feet without it moving, bending, damaging, nicking, etc?
Do you prefer to hand file or do you use some sort of grinder: dremel tool or similar or both?
If using some sort of power tool, what is your preferred "grinding bit(s)" for the job.
Sorry Bruce to interfere, but I just can't wait to get the back issue, though I will order it. I've got the reel seats and corks done and its time to mount the guides ...........

I use a Dremel on a stand and a nylon screw to hold the guide. The screw works great. I have sizes all the way down to be able to hold #6 ceramic fly guides. Makes life simple. I just posted a photo [www.rodbuilding.org]

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

On a side note: I've always been a bit curious about grinding steel, titanium, graphite (when cutting blanks) with power tools. I'm assuming that it is inevitable that some of the flying dust gets into one's lungs - unless one is using a high grade respirator. Anyone worry about the long term effects?

Mo

When you are grinding 304 or 316 stainless steel guide frames with a power tool pay special attention to the color of the tip section you are working. If you see the metal go red - blue - white you have probably damaged the tip section by overheating. When the metal cools back down under ambient temperature the overheated area will be highly sensitized and will become quite brittle. It will loose any ductility it had to start with. On the heavy duty boat guides the Fujis are quite thick pretty far out toward the tip. You can work the top surface of the guide thin while staying away from the very end of the tip to minimize the overheating effect. Find a work procedure and tool that will allow you to prepare guides in a reasonable speed taking care to keep the tip overheating to a minimum.

Billy Vs position above is really not so far off based. On a guide frame used for saltwater operations anything that is done to stainless steel to increase the possibility of chloride stress corrosion cracking or overheating induced sensitization should be avoided. Those are the primary cause of failure of of the base metal. It does not rust in the presense of saltwater it cracks.

On boat rods with an underwrap and two overwraps of D thinning of the guide frame can be done without frying the tip section of the foot. It sure would be nice if Fuji thinned down their stuff to make them easier to use. Some of the other manufacutrers have at least made an effort to reduce the amount of work. Some of the first Amtak titaniums that came out were affected by the tip overheating during prep.

This is one of the areas that custom builders should hold the edge - production rod manufacturers just do not have the time to get this done -

If you holding the things by hand or in a clamp you should always wear eye protection.

Gon Fishn



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2006 07:46PM by Bill Stevens.