Made In Florida - Roller Guides

Wonder what goes into manufacturing the tackle, gear and accessories we all use today? Anglers often take for granted the tremendous effort it requires to engineer, design and build all of the equipment and countless components which combine to enhance our boating and sport fishing experiences.

You name it, and somewhere in Florida is a team of dedicated professionals investing long hours to produce the assortment of fishing gear we so cherish. We wanted to learn more about these people and about the products they specialize in and know that you, too, will be fascinated with what we discover in our ongoing quest to find out “how it’s made.” For anglers with a thirst for blue-water excitement and a hunger for big-game, few components are as critical to the outcome of drawn-out battles then something so small, that it can literally fit in the palm of your hand – roller guides.

Rather than typical round-eye spinning rod guides, roller guides have been engineered to allow heavy monofilament to effortlessly “roll” across a spinning wheel which prevents friction and build up of heat – both notorious for reducing monofilament’s breaking strength. To learn more, we went straight to the source – Stuart Collins of Stuart Industries, makers of arguably the finest line of high-end offshore rod building components in the industry. For five decades, the Collins family has been designing and manufacturing custom rods, top-quality reel seats, rod butts, gimbals and more. Stuart Industry’s team of dedicated professionals continue to devote thousands of hours to testing and perfecting, not just by engineers and fine craftsmen, but by professional charter boat crews who utilize Stuart components day in and day out in the harshest of environments – the offshore blue-water arena.

Stuart Industries North Miami 18,000 square-foot manufacturing facility is an engineering marvel comprised of an army of metal lathing and drilling machines – some of which date back to the 1940s and weigh as much as an elephant! Consider for a moment that the same metal lathe that once shaped bullets and torpedoes for the war effort now produces the aluminum reel seat your International sits on.

Stuart Industries is perhaps most notable for their patented roller guide design which cradles the monofilament line and keeps it in the center of the free-spinning roller wheel where it belongs. I am sure you’ve seen these distinctive ‘mechanical-looking’ guides as Stuart Rollers have conquered every species of big-game fish in all of the world’s oceans.

Collins, the colorful brainchild and self-taught engineering phenomenon behind the operation, doesn’t only oversee the manufacturing process of each roller guide component, he’s hands-on every step of the way. As he puts it, “My name’s on every guide. It’s not going anywhere if it’s not better than perfect!”

A synthetic sensation after decades of fine-tuning, each Stuart Roller Guide, other than the tip-top guide which is formed from tubular aluminum as it must slide over the rod blank rather than sitting on it, starts with a one-piece frame pressed from an aero/marine-grade aluminum sheet. The composition of the aluminum sheet and its exact dimensions (both proprietary secrets) are carefully scrutinized to ensure the proper finish, strength, flexibility and trouble-free performance. Once the frame is cut, formed and precise holes punched with a 25-ton press, the piece is hand inspected to ensure it meets Stuart’s strict tolerances before being carefully polished and sent off to be anodized to decisive military specs. More than .0001 of an inch off or a single scratch in the metal, and the guide frame is rejected.

Simultaneously, the multiple components that make up a Stuart Roller are being pressed, cut, shaped and drilled from an army of reliable workhorses made up of antique lathes and presses. A dozen iron machines dating back as far as the 1940s – each as big as a car are strategically positioned throughout the warehouse to maximize workflow efficiency. Just maintaining this fleet of monsters appears to be a monumental task. We asked when the crew of mechanical engineers come in to maintain and repair the equipment. Stuart replied, “Crew of mechanical engineers? I’m standing right in front of you.”

The next step in the roller guide assembly process entails installing the stainless steel spacer bar which provides guide support by bridging the frame together. Stuart Roller Guides are practically bullet-proof and clearly made to last a lifetime! Go ahead, step on one.

The space bar, too, is lathed in-house and from what we learned is one of the smallest items that goes into a Stuart Roller Guide, yet it is one of the most difficult to shape to such tight tolerances. The beveled space bar is held tightly in-place by a pair of Nylok coated stainless screws and is not designed to roll. Again, the well-on-its-way roller guide is carefully inspected.

Now it’s time for the heart of any Stuart Roller Guide, the Centerline Roller™ which has an innovative radius bevel built-in to provide increased support and prevent monofilament line from going flat. Leading stripper guides contain two rollers. Unique to all Stuart Roller Guides in any of the fifteen sizes is that even the largest wind-on leader – including 500lb. test – and any size knot can easily be reeled through the guides.

Centerline Rollers™ are also constructed of corrosion-proof stainless steel and held in place on the guide frame thanks to a roller shaft, but not before a pair of tiny Teflon bearings impregnated with Kevlar are pressed into the center of roller. The bearings are actually lubricated by water and thanks to the ultra-strength of the Kevlar, never wear. Once the Centerline Rollers™ are fitted into position, a step like all others that is done by hand for each and every guide, roller shafts are inserted and completely isolated from the frame by a pair of form-fitting non-conductive and self-lubricating side plates constructed of Dupont Supertough, a nylon based material which eliminates the potential for electrolysis. Now complete, a final inspection process ensures proper tolerances and silky-smooth operation before guides are carefully packaged and shipped to rod manufactures all over the world.

From start to finish, Stuart Roller Guides are a manufacturing marvel requiring long hours of hard work. The manufacturing process is hands-on all the way and carefully monitored by Stuart’s keen eyes from beginning to end. Each step of assembly is quite fascinating and encompasses much more than you would imagine. So the next time you’re hooked up to a beefy broadbill or super-fast wahoo and your rod is bent double over, glance down at your roller guides and say, “Hey Stuart, thanks to you, my angling dreams are about to come true!”