I am a low-volume rod-builder, averaged about 2 rods a year over the past 12 years. The only way to get good cork is to buy the BEST offered, and order at least 25% more rings than needed, and then make your project cork selection. With 1/4" rings. most pits will be visable with the reduced thickness.
I drove the 100 miles to SA to get rings from, and meet Andy Dear this past week, on a quest for ring perfection.

The thrill is not in the kill

There is good cork out there. I have been able to purchase what I consider to be fantastic cork rings from a former sponsor of this site. In a bag of 100 I might have 2 or 3 rings I consider to be not worth using, and there might be 10 or 12 rings that are practically flawless. The guy travels to Portugal himself to buy it each year, and he provides the cork to several of the sponsors on this site. He tells me it's become impossible to buy cork without filler. Not enough buyers are willing to purchase unfilled cork to make it economical for those that actually cut the rings to sell it this way. But if you track down and buy the good stuff you won't mind a bit of filler.

I think Tom's doing "the community" a really great service, when the standards table comes out.
While it's been included in much text in the body of many posts here, I can't remember seeing a direct statement on the quality of corks rings, as **currently** touted/bragged/promoted/hyped/ad infinitum, on the rings sold by that concern.
Simply put: they, to a firm, in my limited experiance with corks from at least 10 retailers, who all use different suppliers.....they **ALL** use the **boundary** circumference as their grade standard !!!!.
If the ring is 1.25" (these days less as they are metric) and the outside diameter is pretty, it's a flor.
I there is a gaping hole 1/16" or less in the BODY of the cork *just* underneath, and huge pith pocks making a swiss chees look solid.... no never mind. It's still a flor on the outside, fetching the dollars accociated with the grade.
And that's the problem. I have not bought as many corks as Tom, or some of the other really busy builders. I have purchased maybe 17,000 rings over time, in lots of 100. And there is this interesting characteristic: out of 100, I'll get maybe 7 or 8 really nice rings, that to me, are the ones I thought I was buying. the rest are what I call DOSR rings, and FPWDC.... that's dirty old spinning rod rings.....and for people who don't care rings......these are terms of endearment, not putdowns...... as spinners seem to let their corks go all grey, covering up any cork infractions. The people that don't care were asked about quality before the build, as they too let ther handles get grungy.

I definitely have to get more wood to see how the weight is and what it will look like on rods.

There has been a lot written here about Fred's Problem. There's an old saying that goes "You get what you paid for". That being said, at $1.75 per ring Fred should expect decent quality product no matter how it's graded or what it's called!!!!

Again Fred I hope you can resolved to your problem to your satifaction..

Hank
On The Rocks Fishing
Wells, ME.

Fred,
Your email is hidden (mine is not) and I would like to know who the supplier was so I don't order any from them.