Will Duralite or Nanolite guides work with braid this will be a frog rod and I will be using 40lb to 60 lb braid.

8ft Ext Heavy

Glenn McMurrian

Both will work with braid! It seems that many people think that fishing line can groove certain types of ceramic ring inserts, this is not true. For every type of ceramic ring I have tested you cannot cut, or even scratch, a ceramic ring with a hacksaw blade. They are all hard enough to resist almost all types of abrasion, this is the reason they are polished with diamonds. Much of the advertisements stateing a certain type of ceramic ring is braid proof is just hype, they are all braid proof. Some may be harder, or dissipate heat better, or be more shock resistant than others, but these various differences in characteristics are overkill for almost all kinds fishing conditions, with the possible exception of big game fishing. I you don't believe me take any ceramic guide that you may have and try to cut it with a hacksaw blade. You will destroy the blade before you cut the ring.

Norman is correct... they will both hold up to braid fine. The Nanolite is a harder ceramic and for the little cost difference a lot of builder choose to go with the harder material... inexpensive piece of mind.

_______________________________
God Bless, Don Morse

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

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

Surely the nanolite is lighter and has a greater ID due to a thinner ring. I like using them for the tip top even if I go with aluminum oxide or chromed stainless inserts for the rest.

A set of nanolite microwave guides weighs 4.1 gm, and a set of Duralite microwave guides weigh 6.1 gm. These weights are from American Tackle.
Norm

X3 on Norm's comments. There is so little difference in cost that going to the better Nanolite is a no brainier. You won't be disappointed with the better nanolite guides

Tom

Thanks guy's this really helps me out.

Glenn McMurrian

Tom Wewerka Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> X3 on Norm's comments. There is so little
> difference in cost that going to the better
> Nanolite is a no brainier. You won't be
> disappointed with the better nanolite guides
>
> Tom


Can you explain why the nanolite are better than the duralite? I am genuinely curious. Will one withstand abuse better? Does one have greater chance of ceramic coming out of eye? More sensitive? Thanks!

The tip top, stripping, and the guide just forward of the stripping guide take most of the line pressure. I have never run into a grooving issue with running guides. I have had super-braided lines make grooves that definitely degraded performance in the tip top. Fui makes the hardest, smoothest guide insert available on the market- Torzite, but it is expensive. In addition to an extremely durable guide insert, and light weight, it is extremely smooth, which minimizes friction between the guide, and the line, which in turn minimizes heat on the fast moving line. This, along with the super smooth surface results in less wear and tear on the line itself, helping it to maintain maximum strength, and durability. In short, the line lass longer than with lesser guide materials.

SIC, and Nonolite inserts are next in guide quality, IMO. They are tough enough for any line out there, even wire, and are lightweight. But they aren't as microscopically smooth as Torzite.

Again, just IMHO, Nanonlite, ans SIC are great guide materials, and plenty good enough for most any rod you would want to build. But if you want to build with the ultimate, go with Torzite. You have to weigh the performance benefits against the high cost. One more tning to consider; what do you want to use this rod for? If you want to cast for distance, then the least friction, plus proper guide placememnt will get you that. Also, jigging will put heavier loads on the tip top.

Tight lines, and frisky fish

RJF

How does Mildrum Carboloy guides fit into your list of guides for hardness

I don't leave any line other than braid on a rod long enough to worry about line damage or wear from any sound guide, I have a sturgeon rod with Fuji SV aluminum oxide guides on it since 1985, I've been running 80 lb. Tuffline braid through it for almost 30 years on fish approaching 10 ft. long in heavy near dam current on the lower Columbia River, zero guide damage.

Paul Wray Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Tom Wewerka Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > X3 on Norm's comments. There is so little
> > difference in cost that going to the better
> > Nanolite is a no brainier. You won't be
> > disappointed with the better nanolite guides
> >
> > Tom
>
>
> Can you explain why the nanolite are better than
> the duralite? I am genuinely curious. Will one

Both work on braid, but one has thinner rings and for same size guide, it has a bigger ID hence weigh less.
> withstand abuse better? Does one have greater
> chance of ceramic coming out of eye? More
> sensitive? Thanks!

I have never grooved a ceramic ring guide, but I have tiptops. Which is why I always use premium ringed tiptops. And the lighter the better to reduce recovery speed deterioration due to the weight on the tip of the rod.

Any guide ring that grooves wouldn’t seem to be made from a true industrial ceramic material. The hardest thing that should be brought in on braided line is the biogenic silica components of diatoms. These appear to max out at about 6.5 on the Mohs scale. Most ceramics that can be categorized into a standard industrial material are about 9.0 or above on that hardness scale. Cubic zirconia is softer with some ratings at 8.0 to 8.5. However, there doesn’t appear to be an industry standard material for the term. According to a British engineering journal article I read a couple of years ago (not finding it now), it’s more of a marketing term than a specific material with specific properties. The article noted a wide range of qualities and prices for materials sold under the term.

Are cubic zirconia guide rings harder than diatoms? Probably, but without accompanying specifications it takes some faith in marketing speak. I no longer build with this material, but I don’t have any grooved rings on rods with these guides. Strength properties that would indicate how likely a guide is to break wouldn’t be reliably available for a marketing term. I want to know if a guide ring is more prone to breakage relative to other choices.

The Mohs scale isn’t a linear or logarithmic scale. The absolute hardness (one of many other hardness scales) of a material with a 6.5 rating is about 85. It’s about 400 for a material with a 9.0 rating, such as aluminum oxide. A diamond at 10.0 is 1500 in absolute hardness. While Mohs is a very coarse scale, it’s premise is that a higher number material can’t be scratched by a lower numbered one. Thus, a 6.5 rated material shouldn’t wear a grove into one rated at 9.0.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2023 09:55PM by Kendall Cikanek.

Hello All.
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Well it worked, Enjoy!


Tight Wraps & Tighter Lines.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2023 10:46AM by ROBERT GUIST.

Here are some Vicker hardness values for various guide materials. They are all compiled from past post here on rod board.

VICKER'S HARDNESS SCALE Values for Line Guide Ring Materials
Stainless Steel (SS): 400
Chrome: 800-1100
Carbaloy: 1000
Aluminum Oxide: 1200-1400
Alconite: 1300-1500
Silicon nitride: 1400
NanoLite: 1800
Zirconia: 1000-1400
Zirconia PVD: 1600
SiC: 2200-2400

Norm

Thanks Norman. If all those Vickers values are from the same source / test procedures, that is very important and useful information. It is reassuring to learn that my go-to Alconite is within the upper end of the scale / test samples.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.