What are the differences? I have used Alconite for awhile and now it seems a lot of people are using Fazlite. Between the two which is better? Are they each better in different ways? Why should I use Fazlite over Alconite?

Brett,
Because you want to.

A different product with similar characteristics.

Take care

Fazlite is a new type of hard aluminum oxide material that has hardness, thermal conductivity, and bending strength properties intermediate between Alconite and Concept O, both of which are also types of aluminum oxide. It is sort of an upgraded version of the old Hardloy guides, and this upgrade gives them the strength to be deep pressed into the new K guide frames. They are a very nice guide with a dark blue ring, and come in the new corrosion control K frames. A nice thing about them is that they are inexpensive without being ‘cheap’. They are sufficiently hard and strong enough to give years of hard use without breaking or grooving problems. They are certainly worth a try.
Norm

"Between the two which is better? Are they each better in different ways? Why should I use Fazlite over Alconite"


Alconite is better

Fazlite is cheaper and comes in a blue ceramic color, if that appeals to you then that would be considered "Better" in your particular case.

If you want to keep the cost as low as possible and like the color blue than you should choose Fazlite .


I always go with the best components i can afford myself but others think differently which is the way it always is , both Fazlite and Alconite come in corrosion control frames . I myself love the regular Fuji stainless look so i never order corrosion control frames, never had a problem with any guide corroding on me as i am very careful in washing and taking care of my equipment , personal preference .

Most any ceramic is more than good enough these days .

What Herb said.
Faszlite is a "price point" insert.
Herb (the older one)

Alconite is better because it cost more. That's about all I can say about that so Torzite must be incredibly great. I wonder if Fuji will ever upgrade the type of stainless they are using for guide frames. You have all kinds of ring materials that really don't matter and then you have stainless frames that corrode. Their solution was to electroplate the frames with some kind of zinc compound. Higher grade stainless must be really expensive.

To my understanding, the Fuji stainless corrosion control frames are not painted, coated, or plated. They have undergone certain types of chemical treatments, one of which includes an acid passivation treatment. This passivation treatment removes the the iron molecules at the surface exposing the chromium and nickel ions of the alloy which form stable oxides making the surface ‘passive’ to corrosion. This passive surface protects the underlying steel from corroding. These chemical corrosion control treatments supposedly make the frames 7X more corrosion resistant than untreated stainless steel. The Fazlite guides use exactly the same frames as used for the Alconite guides. So the only difference between the Alconite and Fazlite guides is the ring material, and both are sufficiently hard and strong enough to resist grooving and cracking. In my opinion, performance differences between Alconite and Fazlite are extremely minimal. As I mentioned above they are certainly worth a try.
Norm

None of the corrosion control frames offer that sheen that regular Fuji stainless offers, the CC frames are indeed just Fuji's standard stainless with the CC treatment applied to them but that CC treatment takes that classy sheen away that i personally find attractive . As said i have never had a stainless frame corrode but others have so obviously the CC frames would appeal to them .


You can easily tell which frames are CC and which frames aren't just by looking at them , and i just like the non coated look that's all . On another note Alconite is a harder ceramic and is a smoother ceramic that takes a higher polish than Fazlite but that doesn't mean the other is inadequate. Fazlite is plenty hard and smooth enough also .

Some people will be interested in that info and some won't , i have fished Alconite and SIC equipped rods , in use i can't tell any difference but i know for a fact SIC is a much harder and smoother ceramic and just knowing that is why i choose to purchase it.


There's an old saying that applies most of the time and that is " You get what you pay for " and that applies to guide frames and ceramics also , they're NOT all created equal BUT when it comes to ceramics used for guide rings that's an area that a lot of people will continue to disagree about and they have every right to .

Nobody's going to prove anything , it's just one of those believe what you want to believe things, it's just a good thing we have so many choices .