I brought home a new Triumph TRS66MF spinning rod yesterday and realized I already had another TRS66MF in my garage that was 2 years old. The new one says it is 'SCII carbon' while the old one is 'SCII graphite'

 

What's the difference? Is carbon an improvement or did they downgrade the materials?

The two terms are somewhat synonymous in the industry.  Graphite is a crystalline form of carbon.  

   You're looking at semantic (advertising) differences, NOT scientific differences.        jj

"Carbon fiber is a polymer which is a form of graphite. Graphite is a form of pure carbon. In graphite the carbon atoms are arranged into big sheets of hexagonal aromatic rings. ... Carbon fiber is a form of graphite in which these sheets are long and thin. You might think of them as ribbons of graphite."

In the 90s, chopped graphite fiber was used as random fill in plastic molding to give us lightweight reel frames - those frames flopped in the breeze.  

If you look at modern composite frames, they use essentially woven carbon-fiber fabric to make rigid resin frames.  Pencil lead and dry lube is a different form of crystalline graphite.

The rigid fiber is a glass.  It originated from processing carbon black, which is what makes tires so tough.  Pyrolytic graphite is also noncrystalline, though hot isostatically pressed, increasing covalent bonding and fatigue strength (used in heart valves).  More heat and pressure, and you eventually get to the different crystal structure in diamond.  

While carbon-fiber is technically more accurate, carbon and graphite are used synonymous.  

21 hours ago, diehardbassfishing said:

"Carbon fiber is a polymer which is a form of graphite. 

Almost. carbon fiber is a composite consisting of graphite encapsulated by resin, much like fiberglass is glass encapsulated by a resin. My next rod is going to be flawless and made by Debeers...

 

9 hours ago, BassWhole! said:

Almost. carbon fiber is a composite consisting of graphite encapsulated by resin,

 

Yea - just copied from a Google search.

Shoulda caught the "Carbon Fiber IS a poly..."

Bad wording!

 

Thanks for clarifying. 

 

Karl

On 1/22/2021 at 10:13 AM, diehardbassfishing said:

In graphite the carbon atoms are arranged into big sheets of hexagonal aromatic rings. 

 

So if I hold my rods real close I'll notice a smell?

 

17 hours ago, The Bassman said:

So if I hold my rods real close I'll notice a smell?

 

Ok, have me paranoid now!

But this one is OK.

 

ar·o·mat·ic

 

adjective

 

1. having a pleasant and distinctive smell.

"a massage with aromatic oils

 

 

2. CHEMISTRY

(of an organic compound) containing a planar unsaturated ring of atoms that is stabilized by an interaction of the bonds forming the ring. Such compounds are typified by benzene and its derivatives.