Question about cork

[AveryF]

I'm not a rod builder but I'm very curious about it and would like to give it a try at some point. With that being said, I've noticed several different discussions on a number of different boards discussing various suppliers and grades of cork rings. What's the deal with burl cork? I see that it's available from a bunch of different sources (i.e. http://www.lamarreelseats.com, Angler's Workshop, etc.) at a pretty reasonable price but know very little about it. Is it a reasonable alternative to "real" cork?

[RedneckfromRI]

Avery,

Burl cork is a viable option over regular cork because its getting harder and harder to find quality cork rings at an affordable price. I like to use it along with regular rings to give the grips a unique look.
http://www.canddtradinginc.com is a wholesale supplier of cork and burl cork and they have some really nice colored burl. For instance your building a rod using a St Croix SCIV blank which is a cobalt blue color. Why not use the blue burl rings along with regular cork and when gluing them up use alternating rings. I did this to the foregrip of Santeerangerman's crankin' rod using red burl/cork combo.

Andy is a great guy to deal with!!! If you decide to order from him make sure you get yourself a couple of his mandrels for turning the grips while your at it!!!
His exotic burl rings are awesome also!!!