Royal Comoys E-Bay Gamble

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doctorbob

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 18, 2014
772
1,157
Grand Ledge, Michigan
Couple of weeks ago I saw an e-bay listing for a 'Old-Comoy-Pipe-Royal-Great-Grain' with a somewhat incomplete description of condition and nomenclature. The pictures were overexposed and pixelated and I initially passed on the pipe, but I saw the pipe several days later and noticed that the BIN was less than $40. Although the pictures were poor, I could tell that the grain supported the pipe being an earlier Royal Comoys which were usually straight grained.
Picture from E-bay:

s-l1600-1-600x449.jpg

Since $40 is below my 'what the hell' limit, I took a risk.
This is what I got (after cleaning):

20180317_081201-600x337.jpg


20180317_081310-600x337.jpg

I'm pretty please, excellent stem, excellent stummel, excellent bowl interior, good stamps. This pipe was also fitted the the very rare 'Inter Steel' system of mortise and tenon reinforcement that Comoy's used on high end pipes in the late 1930's, the first in my collection.
Deals can still be had on e-bay, especially if you can tolerate a little risk.
Doc

 

dmcmtk

Lifer
Aug 23, 2013
3,672
1,685
Doc, looks really nice! When you say "Inter Steel" do you mean the tenon like the Blue Riband, or the steel reinforcement in the mortise also?
brshank-002-600x450.jpg

:)

 

doctorbob

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 18, 2014
772
1,157
Grand Ledge, Michigan
Both, the system was registered for patent in late 1938 with a ring in the mortise and a longer tube permanently anchored in the tenon and stem. The patent was issued in mid 1940 (UK 521123). It would appear that the ring in the wood around the mortise was a failure, resulting in an increased occurrence of the entire end of the shank snapping off, and was discontinued pretty quickly. The tenon reinforcement lived on for several more decades.
If you look up the patent online you can see the system in cross section. The ads I have seen called it the Inter Steel system, and advertised an 'unbreakable pipe'.
doc

 

doctorbob

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 18, 2014
772
1,157
Grand Ledge, Michigan
Is that your pipe? I have often heard people state that the ring in the mortise must have been a repair, but this was a Comoy's advertised factory feature (briefly), and should be considered as such.
doc

 

dmcmtk

Lifer
Aug 23, 2013
3,672
1,685
Great information Bob! I've never heard the actual name of this setup. Yes the pipe is mine, a Blue Riband Straight Grain Made in England 336 C. I bought it in 2014, and at the time had quite a bit of back and forth with Neill Archer Roan, and Jon Guss about this pipe!
:)
See my PM.

 

doctorbob

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 18, 2014
772
1,157
Grand Ledge, Michigan
Does yours have a patent stamp, or a patent pending stamp? I have never seen the patent stamp in the wild, but most pipes I have seen in with that system were stamped PAT. PENDING, or without a patent stamp at all.
Bob

 

uperepik

(Oldtown)
Mar 8, 2017
533
14
Another nice royal. I’m starting to really get into these old Comoy’s. Don’t have a Blue Riband yet but it’s on the list.

 

dmcmtk

Lifer
Aug 23, 2013
3,672
1,685
No Patent stamp. Same here, the other examples I have seen both do not have a Patent stamp. A very early Blue Riband,
30sbrdougv31-600x479.jpg


30sbrdougv21-600x288.jpg


30sbrdougv1-600x378.jpg

And a Jost's 498
jost-600x375.jpg


josts2-600x329.jpg

Neither of these two are mine. I saved the pictures because of my curiosity about this detail!

 

uperepik

(Oldtown)
Mar 8, 2017
533
14
I have a #80 Tradition with the steel tube. Unfortunately it has a crack in the shank.

 
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