I did a quick search on the forums to see if there any posts regarding American Tackle's TiForged Guides, and saw that there were pretty minimal posts online. I'm only familiar with Fuji guides, and wanted an opinion on how they compare when using them for running guides. I like Fuji's RV-6 stripper guide and their Arowana tiptop, so I'll likely use those, but could I use American Tackle's size 5 Titanium Nanolite TiForged Running guides? Does American Tackle have a system like Fuji where they advise the use of 3 KB guides and rest KT running guides? Seems like they have one set of runners for casting(TRC), and another for spinning(TRS). Common sense tells me that the spinning running guides likely have smaller guide feet and the casting are likely bigger, so I could probably use 3 casting running guides and then use spinning running guides for the rest?

Has anyone built any rods using these? If so, how do they compare to Fuji's Ti Torzite or Ti SiC guides? Also, how do Nanolite and Duralite compare to Fuji's Torzite, SiC, or Alconite?

I keep it simple with guides I know work well: Fuji RV6 + KB's and KT's to the tiptop, size determined by the application, mostly 5.5's.

The only reason I even venture through mixing these is that the Fuji's Ti KB and some KT are out of stock on MudHole.

American Tackle will likely reply on Mon.

Paul, I use alot of TiForged guides. You are correct in your thinking the difference in casting and spinning is the guide foot. Right or wrong I compare DURALITE to alconite and Nanolite to SiC. If you want photos of the TRC vs TRS guides let me know. I also have the AT catalog with all the dimensions if your interested in a photo of that. You can email me or I could post them here. I use them just like you mentioned 2/3 TRC guides then TRS guides to the tip top. Note that polished is more of a tumbled/blasted appearance, not very shiney. Black is semi gloss to gloss black.

Looking at the guides again and cross sections I would say American tackle Nanolite has a cross section more similar to torzite than SiC. Meaning that Fuji SiC has a fairly circular cross section and torzite is more of a smooth elongated oval, Nanolite is similar to the torzite cross section. DURALITE has a cross section that is larger in diameter per ring size and circular, with atleast the larger sizes having a flat portion on the ID.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2020 07:00PM by Jonathan Hotham.

Thanks for the very specific info, Jonathan! I'm sure at this point that I could just go with all TiForged guidetrain since all I do is build for myself. I'm sure they cast well, handle braid without issues, and are just as light as the Fuji at fraction of the price. I wonder how light the Nanolite rings are compared to Torzite, although at micro sizes, I'm sure there is only a minimal difference if any.

I actually just weighed some last week lol here you go. I measured 5 of each without prepping any of the guide feet, so as received. Just decide by 5 for each guide.

TiForged casting 4mm x5 0.81g
TiForged spinning 4mm x5 0.71g
TiForged spinning 3mm x5 0.46g

Measured on a calibrated reloading scale with 0.001 gram resolution and +/- 0.005 accuracy. Rounded to nearest 0.005 gram

Edited: weights are for steel. I don't have any titanium on hand.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2020 08:53PM by Jonathan Hotham.

Also those weights are for Nanolite.

Paul I would so you are good to mix and match. The RV is unique even compared to the Fuji KBs or KTs. As long as you use all the same guide model line between the RV and the tip top, you should be good. They used to not have the KBs so I used all KTs, worked great. Another alternative is SeaGuide between the RV and the tip top. They offer a Ti frame with a nice ring that is comparable to Torzite. They also have the wider foot for the wider part of the rod and a narrow foot for the tip sections like Fuji. I would say your good with what you are doing with the 5 mm AT guides as long as you don't exceed the height of the RV stripper guide.

Happy Monday everyone.. thank you for helping the OP.

You will love the Ti-Forged guides. You can use them in any style of set up you prefer to do.

They are available in

*spinning
*high frame spinning
*spinning runners
*double foot
*casting runners

They are 316ss or Titanium and available in Black and polished frames.

[www.americantackle.us]

Please let me know if you have any questions.

_______________________________
God Bless, Don Morse

800-516-1750 ext. 1207 / don@americantackle.us

Rod Building..... It's What We Do.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2020 10:36AM by Don @ American Tackle.

Paul,
There are a lot of vendors besides Mud Hole.

Since I'm fairly new, I've only done business with GetBit, NFC, and MudHole. I'm ordering below $150, so I would have to pay $15 shipping for AnglersWorkshop. Jann's doesn't carry Fuji's Titanium guides, RodBuildersWarehouse only carries SeaGuides, looks like the TheRodRoom is the closest to having everything I need. Doesn't have a KDPS EVA foregrips and there's a $10 shipping fee as well.

I could give GetBit one more try, I guess. I'm never sure that they actually have the things they say that they have in stock. All three times I ordered from them, the website had them in stock, but they weren't actually in stock at the warehouse. I'd like to avoid having to put in a $9 order and pay $10 for shipping for one or two things at a different vendor.

I'm gonna follow this one

Great talking to you Paul... anything you need please do not hesitate to reach out

_______________________________
God Bless, Don Morse

800-516-1750 ext. 1207 / don@americantackle.us

Rod Building..... It's What We Do.

Don, great talking to you as well and thanks again for the info!

I gave Don a call to ask more about the TiForged Guides. He mentioned that the spinning running guides are taller and tend to weigh more than the casting runners. Since I'm trying to keep the tip light, I might end up going with the casting runners even when acid wrapping. I'll wait a couple more weeks to see if Mudhole or other places re-stock, evaluate the difference in price/availability, then order. It's silly to say, but I've only used Fuji and I'm hesitant to try a different brand when I know I like Fuji.

If I go with the TiForged runners, I think it's a better idea to ditch the RV-6 and go with the TiForged stripper guide. I don't think I want to deal with the headache of mismatching angles of the guide rings. Although, I wonder if that really makes a significant difference in casting or otherwise... He suggested a 10(double foot) - 8(double or single foot depending on use) - 5 runner to tiptop of choice for my case.

As for Fuji equivalence between the guide rings, he specified that Duralite is more along the lines of Alconite, Nanolite is somewhere between Alconite and SiC, but closer to SiC. They don't currently have a Torzite equivalence.

Paul,
This whole thing about ring material is a bunch of hipe. The main thing to me is to have the ring fastened into the frame where it does not pop out or even crack when light pressure is applied and the frame material doesn't corrode. That's why I got kinda of angry when Fuji quit putting the Alconite ring in the Titanium frame. Just made me go out and find other brands with what I was looking for. The whole thing about the RV 6 is the height of the ring, it makes a better transition from reel to tip top keeping the line straighter. You could also do this with a higher frame 12 mm or 10 mm KW guide but you won't have that initial smaller choke point. What i do is buy a bunch of RV 6s then use them up and get some more because I do quite a few medium light rods with spiral wraps.
Lance