Recently received a box of guides but not organized by sizes. What is the easiest way to size this box of jumbled-up guides?

The quickest and simplest way would be to find drill bits that just barely fit into the different rings. You can use them as pin gauges and sort each size very. quickly.

TipTops or guides? MIke's idea is great for tiptops. For guides, just measure outside to outside of the ceramic ring in mm and you'll have the size.

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Bob,
I just use a tapered stick with marks on the stick for each of the potential gide size.
Just like sizing a ring, let the guide slip down the stick until it stops and read the mark on the stick.

The most important thing is the inside diameter of the guide. If you have a mishash of guides, some with no rings, some with thin rings and some with thin things, you might find that a guide that could happen to be the same size on the outside of the guide may have a significatnly different size on the inside of the guide.

So the use of the guide sizing tapered stick is a quick and easy way to size out the guides.

Take care
REW

I should have mentioned that the manufacturers size their guides by the outside of the ceramic ring, or the inside of the metal frame. Thus, to obtain the size per the maker, measure the outside of the ceramic ring. This the sizing standard that all the catalogs feature.

If you want the actual ring opening size, do what Roger advised.

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Standard measurement for all manufacturers?

How would anyone explain this photo:

Both are sold as 3.5 mm guides.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Per AFTA guidelines, sizing is done as outlined above.

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Shame the guidelines are not followed by all manufactures.

Yes it is. But in the meantime if he wants to size his guides he can use the standardized system and be in line with the only such standardized system available. Or do nothing.

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This is really a complicated subject that could help out rodbuilders with a sane resolution.

The best thing for the poster of this thread to do is organize like sizes based upon the ID of the ring. It would be stupid to remove the rings to measure the ID of the frames. Guides with same size ring ID could be grouped and final result will include many different size guides.

Rings have various thicknesses from the thick aluminum oxide to the Alconites, Nanolites, etc and to the coated frame material.

AFTA has a standard -

Maybe it is time to revisit the standard and do what is needed by the people who build and use rods.

What is important to most is the weight of the guide, height reference and the ID of the ing coupled with the fame style.

You don't have to remove the ceramic rings to measure the ID of the frame. It will be the same as the OD of the ring.

What is important to this gentleman, according to what he posted, is that he have some idea what guide sizes he's looking at. I think that's all he wants - a general idea of what he's got.

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measure the OD of the ring Subtract 1/2 MM to get the size.

Then In Your Stash Check with other guides you - Know What There Size Are - and check ????

Your in the Ball park

Bill - willierods.com