Diamond Guides?

[BASSclary]

Has anybody ever pioneered them ? Just diamonds in the guide. Well, polished of course. You would think the hardest material on earth would be the best. Then again, would they be heavy? If they're out there, they're definately not main-stream. Would probably cost a small fortune too. Just curious. And also mods, I apolagize if this is in the wrong section. I figured this section or tacklemaking section.

[bilgerat]

A majority of all diamonds mined are used for industrial purposes - cutting tools, abrasives, etc. The technology involved with creating a diamond insert would be ridiculously expensive and a waste of time. The insert would have to be a mixture of diamond material and other binders/adhesives, etc. Most rod guides today have no problem handling the lines we have now.

[guitarkid]

I use diamond grinding wheels at work, so I feel I have about $.02 to add here. first, they would actually be pretty heavy, much more than a ceramic or SiC guide. As far a the priceing goes, you would probably be looking at about $500-$600 for a full set. Even man made diamonds are'nt cheap.

-gk

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

This would be way over-kill. Braid material and design has advanced to the point that all but the very cheapest guides can handle them. If they wore out, I'd go with a lighter guide and repalce as neeeded.

[J Francho]

Isn't diamond a crystal? That always makes me thing of sharp edges. I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to gemology, but sharp edges and fishing line just don't seem to go together.

[BASSclary]

I was just thinking about high-dollar custom rods. Just an idea.

[RoLo]

I was a tool & die maker in my former life, and we used diamond tools nearly every day, if only to dress

an aluminum oxide grinding wheel for form grinding. Industrial grade diamonds are stained and unclear,

and for this reason they're far cheaper than gemstones but are still number "10" on the hardness scale.

With increased hardness however comes increased brittleness or cleavage.

Although diamond guides are used on stationary machinery, they're not well suited to mobile gadgets like fishing rods.

Tungsten Carbide is a manmade material, in fact it's second only to diamond on the Hardness Scale (1 to 10).

Guide inserts made of tungsten carbide are used mainly for wire-trolling and big game outfits built on E-glass blanks.

For freshwater fishing, silicon carbide is really all that's ever needed, those labeled "SiC", which stands for Silicon Carbide.

On one of my saltwater boats, I stashed my rods vertically beneath an elastic lash. One day my cuff momentarily snagged

one of the rod tips, The rod snapped back to the center console and the impact shattered the top two silicon carbide inserts.

That's brittle enough for me..LOL

The word "braid" in isolation says very little. Braided "Kevlar" was the culprit that eroded every guide insert softer than

Ziroconium PVD. Unfortunately, the braid stigma carried over to "Polyethylene" braid which never even eroded Hardloy inserts.

Nah, we don't need diamond guide inserts. .

Roger