Comoy’s Extraordinaire 499 Restoration [Pic Heavy]
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Al, I think my Leonard's 499 has similar measurements to your 499. The bowl width and height were within 1-2mm difference. The shank is 21mm at the stem and @29mm where the shank meets the bowl. It weighs 54 grams.
Hm. I truly don't want to "start something," but the Comoy's authorities have been caught before telling Neill a stem-related tall tale in the course of his Comoy's book research. Specifically, that their stems were fashioned from rod stock instead of molded blanks.
If Neill's blog was still up I'd link to the self-contradictory passages and photos so we could all have a laugh, but (sadly) it's not.
When I pointed it out, Neill handled the situation in the most gentlemanly way possible by not taking issue with his sources, rather, just making it clear that he was obliged to repeat what he was told exactly as it was told to him. He also left open the possibility that Comoy's might have engaged in a bit of self-serving exaggeration from time to time a la Alfred Dunhill's "dead root" briar story, or that Comoy's management were simply repeating what THEY had been told, and being "business guys" instead of "shop guys" had no reason to doubt it.
Anyway, bottom line: The only way I'll ever believe that the Comoy's white dot was perfectly center drilled a thousand times a day is to see it done with my own eyes, or be shown the hella-amazing co-axial drilling machine that was used. (A turret chuck would work in theory, but one precise enough to deliver near-100% repeatable accuracy to a few ten-thousandths on cylindrical stock of varying size and shape isn't the sort of thing pipe factories got anywhere near. Especially when a few hundred dollars would buy several year's worth of "bullseye" rod stock.)
Tool-geek out. :wink:
If Neill's blog was still up I'd link to the self-contradictory passages and photos so we could all have a laugh, but (sadly) it's not.
When I pointed it out, Neill handled the situation in the most gentlemanly way possible by not taking issue with his sources, rather, just making it clear that he was obliged to repeat what he was told exactly as it was told to him. He also left open the possibility that Comoy's might have engaged in a bit of self-serving exaggeration from time to time a la Alfred Dunhill's "dead root" briar story, or that Comoy's management were simply repeating what THEY had been told, and being "business guys" instead of "shop guys" had no reason to doubt it.
Anyway, bottom line: The only way I'll ever believe that the Comoy's white dot was perfectly center drilled a thousand times a day is to see it done with my own eyes, or be shown the hella-amazing co-axial drilling machine that was used. (A turret chuck would work in theory, but one precise enough to deliver near-100% repeatable accuracy to a few ten-thousandths on cylindrical stock of varying size and shape isn't the sort of thing pipe factories got anywhere near. Especially when a few hundred dollars would buy several year's worth of "bullseye" rod stock.)
Tool-geek out. :wink:
Follow-up:
Since examples speak louder than words in situations like this, here's a photo of a stem I made a while ago whose emblem/trademark consists of two different materials, both round, and one perfectly centered in the other.
It was made by drilling only ONE hole, though, and took no special tools, special materials, unusual skill, or significant time. Also, it could be applied to any shape stem with 100% accuracy 100% of the time.
Anyone care to guess how it was done?
.
Since examples speak louder than words in situations like this, here's a photo of a stem I made a while ago whose emblem/trademark consists of two different materials, both round, and one perfectly centered in the other.
It was made by drilling only ONE hole, though, and took no special tools, special materials, unusual skill, or significant time. Also, it could be applied to any shape stem with 100% accuracy 100% of the time.
Anyone care to guess how it was done?
.
The white was hollow stock? One hole, then fill the center of the white with the appropriate diameter stock?....... :?:
@ George - it was Neills blog entry on the Comoy's rod stock, which was also around replacement stems, if memory serves. It is odd that no pictures exist of the 3 piece manufacturing process nor any of bulls eye rod stock. Neill did say that the bulls-eye rod stock definitely would have been a better manufacturing process. Pipe lore, what a great part of this hobby, right?
I'm a beneficiary of a George D Ashton stem, but I'll be darned if I can figure out how you do it! Even with your micro-tools, I don't think that a piece of briar could be milled small enough to fit into a stainless tube. So my answer has to be "magic".
I'm a beneficiary of a George D Ashton stem, but I'll be darned if I can figure out how you do it! Even with your micro-tools, I don't think that a piece of briar could be milled small enough to fit into a stainless tube. So my answer has to be "magic".
When I google "bulls eye rod stock" Wiki says this:
"A fabled material has only been seen by world-renowned pipe repairman George Dibos of Precision Pipe Repair"
But that was recently edited, so I don't know.....
"A fabled material has only been seen by world-renowned pipe repairman George Dibos of Precision Pipe Repair"
But that was recently edited, so I don't know.....
On a serious note George - I know Walker and Tim West have each made replacement, 3 piece Comoys' stems. But their logos are larger than the original and just look off. Have you ever attempted to replicate this the C logo? If anyone has a shot of getting it done, it's you.
It's because both the dimensions and proportions are slightly different than the original.
A few thousandths of an inch makes a HUGE visual difference in this sort of thing. Sounds hard to believe, but it's true. The human brain processes concentric circles in a way that makes seeing discrepancies unavoidable. It's why my inner tool geek is driving me to clarify this Comoy's situation. I know damn well no pre-CNC-era pipe factory was manually drilling a thousand perfectly centered 3-hole trademark emblems a day, and going along with the myth that they did runs counter to my nature.
The Ashton sample was done with a tube, of course. Drill one hole anywhere you want---placement can be as casual or precise as you want---then the second hole is ALREADY THERE, perfectly sized, and perfectly centered. Fit into it whatever you please.
If you're a factory making pipes, the work-saving jump to telling your SUPPLIER to pre-stuff the tube with whatever material you specify would occur to you before the end of the first day of production. It's the lowest of low-hanging fruit in a situation that's all about efficiency and throughput.
Hm... A difficult technical challenge... One that's pipe related... What do you think? :lol:
Wow, that's a tiny briar dowel! I almost guessed that perhaps you sharpened the edge of the tube, and screwed it down into a piece of briar, than cut it flush. But I wondered how you kept the briar secured in the tube.
I don't have a candidate for a Dibos C logo stem, but I'd sure love to see what you could come up with. I can't recall the maker of the one Neill had made. It was better than the West or Walker pieces, but still just a 1/1000th" too large as well.
I don't have a candidate for a Dibos C logo stem, but I'd sure love to see what you could come up with. I can't recall the maker of the one Neill had made. It was better than the West or Walker pieces, but still just a 1/1000th" too large as well.
I tried to recreate the C once. I believe the correct diameter of the outer white circle is 3/32". The inner is 1/16". The only person I've seen sell the 3/32 is Tim West. I tried google searching it but it is quite difficult to find.
I'm thinking that maybe the factory process was the same; tubing used instead of something like bullseye rod. The 3-part drilling idea might just be a misremembrance of the details (the guys being questioned weren't the ones that did the work after all). In actuality, 2-part drilling and 3-part construction.
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