As a fan of the Rhodesian pipe shape, the Comoys Shape 284 is one of my favorites and in the top 5 of my “Holy Grail” list. Last week, this Tradition grade pipe showed up for auction. I made an offer to the buyer and surprised to find it accepted. As this is a hotly sought after shape on the market, I couldn’t believe my good fortune until I opened the package and held it in my hand.

The pipe was in excellent condition, bowl and stem. There were only the slightest handling marks and the bowl top was not scorched. The stem, while oxidized only had two tiny teeth marks on the button. The three piece “C” logo was in perfect condition. I love working on Comoys stems, they just seem to shine more brilliantly than other British made vulcanite stems of that era.

The stamping of “Comoy’s” with the slightly larger “C” and the apostrophe was started in the 1950’s and the round “Made In London” with England below was also used in that era. The pipe could have been made from the 1950’s to the end of the Cadogan era in 1982 (give or take!).

I soaked the bowl in salt and Isopropyl alcohol. Here the pipe is shown along with another project, a GBD 9438 Century. I put a dab of grease on the stem logo and soaked the stem for several hours in a mild Oxyclean/water solution to loosen the oxidation.

The bowl only required a light buff with white diamond and then a few coats of Carnuba wax. The nomenclature is quite strong and I didn’t want to damage it.

I started removing the stem oxidation with 800 grit wet paper and then moved thru 1000, 1500 and 2000 grades. I used the 8000 and 12000 grade Micromesh papers before going to the buffing wheel. The stem was buffed lightly with White Diamond and then Meguiars Plastic Polish.

Below is the finished pipe. I’m thrilled to add this one to my collection of Rhodesian pipes and look forward to breaking it in later this evening.