how can you tell the cork grade qualtiy on cork rings?
is there a designated number like 1 for best 2 for 2nd best and so forth?
thanks.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Only the RodMaker scale. Everything else is just a number or name with no standard behind it. A company can sell you Flor grade and it may be completely full of holes and pits, and yet that would still be correctly called Flor, because there is no standard behind it.

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I purchased some cork on @#$%& that was advertised as presentation grade. When I got it it was full of holes and had black spots in it that flaked off and left big voids. I left feedback saying that it was not the quality that was advertised and almost started an international incident. I was threatened that if I did not change my feedback that I would be sued and put on a list to keep me from buying anything in Australia.. I have bought a lot of cork on @#$%& and it has all been good if bought from a US company but both times I bought from a foreign country it was bad.
Pat

Pat,

But that is "Presentation Grade."

That's the problem - you can't complain about what you got because there is no standard behind that grade - it is whatever the seller says it is. Do you have a formal list or photographic standard that shows what "Presentation Grade" is supposed to look like?

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Presentation grade is supposed to be full of pits and holes. At least unless you can prove differently.

The Rodmaker grading scale is the ONLY scale that allows you to see what you are supposed to get before you get it. Any dealer that will not grade by this scale is hiding something. I will no longer buy any grade that does not carry the Rodmaker grade. Anything else is a crap shoot.

If you get your cork and you find it was not graded correctly you have a valid complaint with the dealer because you both knew how to grade it according to the Rodmaker scale. With any other scale there is no way to say that it is not what you ordered. Flour, AAA, Supreme, etcetera is just whatever the seller wants to send you. There is no way to say that it is not what you ordered. It is what it is and there is no way to prove otherwise. For instance, how good is Flour grade supposed to be? Where does anything say how clear it must be to attain that scale? I have been told that Flour is "the best." So what, best of what and when? It is worthless without something behind it to set such a grade.

For instance, I could put some cork up for sale today and even though it might be pure crap, I could call it "Extra Special Supreme Quality Grade." And no matter how bad it was that grade would be correct by my standards. I am the one who has the cork and I am the one who coined the grade name. As long as I never bothered to put up any information on the percent clear or offered any photos to depict that grade, nobody could complain when they got it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2009 09:43AM by Richard Kuhne.

havent been spending decades at rod building, but what i read was that, what we consider to be the current top grade cork right now would have been considered 2nd or 3rd class in yesteryears

-
Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day..
Teach a man to fish, he'll be broke!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2009 11:15AM by Christopher Tan.

Great cork can still be had, it just costs several dollars per ring. Few are willing to pay for it.

If you read Gene Bullard's article on cork in a past RodMaker, you know that the idea that cork used to be flawless and readily available at low cost is pretty much a myth.

I still have a great deal of cork obtained during the 1970's and much of it is pretty awful. But I have some good stuff from the same time period as well. The biggest difference these days is that due to the high cost few dealers offer or buy the really good stuff.

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I don't think Presentation Grade is a real cork grade any more than Super Duper Grade is. Just something somebody made up. But I guess you could say the same for Flor or Flour. Just names somebody cooked up.

"Floret" was a term coined by Gene Bullard for some cork he sourced direct from Portugal. Over the years others picked up on the name and shortened it to "Flor" to get around Gene's trademark of the "Floret" name.

The older and somewhat accepted cork grading scale was A, AA and AAA with AAA being the highest grade. But even then, there was no standard nor defined requirements behind any of them.

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It seems that most of the really good cork goes to high end "off the rack rod makers". Actually I've seen cheap rods in Walmart that have better cork than I can seem to buy.

Dave

Anyone that is willing to pre-order and do so in large orders of about 1000 rings or more, can get really nice cork. But you do have to pay for it.

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When you have the time REALLY inspect that cork you think looks good on a wally world rod. It is absolutely FULL of pits and holes, but it has been filled and sanded down to appeal to that clientele.