BHQ Excl. Lum Tanto?

Babalu32 said:
Ive had mine apart a few times. Its quite a brain bender trying to see if the blade centering can be fixed. You think you got it, then you open and close it a few times and youre right back where you started.
It seems the standoffs need to be a hair taller, so screws can be tightened to tight. And maybe the washers thinner?
I sure can appreciate the machining skill it involves to make a "Taichung" knife.
If I have time this weekend I'll play with some ideas.
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That sounds right...Mine didn’t start grinding until I put it in my left hand to open. Seems like the opposite pressure on the liner put it out of whack.
 
Played along with loosening the pivot screw vacillating bereeen 1/8th to 1/4th of turn after applying a couple of drops of zero friction oil to the screw side of the pivot and also one small drop on the tang.

The fractional sound (no where as bad as Scrooge’s) has now hole away and the action much smoother. I can thumb flick it with small wrist movement so short of taking it apart, this is the best which mine is going to get and I’m going to keep it. This has not been an earth shattering experience after giddily waiting for this pattern.
 
Casinostocks said:
Played along with loosening the pivot screw vacillating bereeen 1/8th to 1/4th of turn after applying a couple of drops of zero friction oil to the screw side of the pivot and also one small drop on the tang.

The fractional sound (no where as bad as Scrooge’s) has now hole away and the action much smoother. I can thumb flick it with small wrist movement so short of taking it apart, this is the best which mine is going to get and I’m going to keep it. This has not been an earth shattering experience after giddily waiting for this pattern.
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I’ve been called many things...and can now add Scrooge to that list :D
 
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Babalu32 said:
I've had mine for a few hours. Incredible shipping time, thanks BladeHQ.
This is the first Lum tanto I've ever handled. It is slim and beefy at the same time.
Out of the box the centering was pretty bad, and the body screws were all quite loose. I heard a jingling sound when I handled it, so I tightened the screws. The sound turned out to be the loose fitting laynard tube (still jingles).
This is the best centering I can get, with the pivot tightened to 105% and the stop pin near falling out loose:rolleyes:.
Ah well.
2wq9zwh.jpg

rsc0a1.jpg

Hard to capture, but the blade is mighty close to one liner.
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Just received my Lum and the centering is just like yours. It’s not touching or rubbing the scale, but a little disappointed that it came that way. I will consult with Spyderco and/or BladeHQ. The good news is that the action is perfect. It’s a beautiful knife.
 
Sounds like either this knife is stuck in Y2K and CQI works or they rushed it out the door.

Interested to see mine.

Hopefully there's an official read by the time it meanders it's way up here.
 
Iamthejellyfish said:
I think this blade is epic, I’m sorry to hear about the off center ones but this one flicks great, only a little less than a pm2 and is centered. I can’t wait to get a patina.

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Seems that the sample which you have received, i.e, almost "perfect" out of the box is a blessing for lack of a better term, just based on the 20 or so comments / feedbacks so far. The rest seem to be either tweakable to garner a more satisfactory folder out of what originally came out of the box or are purportedly complete duds which must be returned to BHQ. If you happen to luck out and get a very good one right out of the box or if you cam manage to improve upon it, I would agree that this is a neat and stout blade if you happen to like a Tanto. This thing is vicious slicer and does that like a mutterfarker!
 
Casinostocks said:
Seems that the sample which you have received, i.e, almost "perfect" out of the box is a blessing for lack of a better term, just based on the 20 or so comments / feedbacks so far. The rest seem to be either tweakable to garner a more satisfactory folder out of what originally came out of the box or are purportedly complete duds which must be returned to BHQ. If you happen to luck out and get a very good one right out of the box or if you cam manage to improve upon it, I would agree that this is a neat and stout blade if you happen to like a Tanto. This thing is vicious slicer and does that like a mutterfarker!
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Well not to mislead, I did have the super loud grittiness after I opened it a few times. I took it apart and wiped everything down and added a little Reeves grease to the detent ball and everything was perfect. I just don’t want to encourage anyone to take their knife apart after Sal’s post. I only did it because it seemed like sand contamination.
 
I was worried I would be the only one underwhelmed with this knife. The blade is fantastic. The whole package is lacking. Mine is not terrible but its nowhere near my expectations for a $220 spyderco. My dlt red pm2 and the other jade/m4s I have are all noticeably better.
 
I received mine and it seemed perfect after initial inspection (excellent centering, grind and lock up) but I may take another look at it again after reading some of these posts. I was actually really pleased with mine.
 
Well less than a full day later I’m over it. It’s going back. Cost definitely affects perception on these. At $130-150 I might have been pretty satisfied, but at $220 it feels like we’ve paid mostly for the limited-ness.
 
Got mine yesterday and the action was very tight. I put a drop of oil on the pivot worked the knife and it started making a grinding noise. Lightly sprayed the pivot with silicone to clean it out, and the scales started looking crappy. Ended up giving it a bath with warm soap and water to try and clean it up. After blowing it out with air and putting a drop of oil on the pivot, the action is improved. The blade is not centered (off to the right). Hope I don't have a problem returning this. This knife doesn't exude quality like previous models. On a positive note the grind and lamination lines are very good. Imo, it's not a $220 knife. Wish it had been made in Taiwan.
 
Well it’s a shame the QC didn’t succeed on this batch of blades but the two I got are great and I’ve paid more for Emerson’s that came out of the box with lock failure! The fit and finish on this is very classic feeling especially with the unique screws and backspacers. It’s a unique steel with classic build style, for that price it is competitive with knives that are way worse for more money in my opinion. If I were one of the people to get a lemon I would send it to Spyderco to fix, I really am starting to think somebody at the factory somehow just got everything dirty/sandy/gritty and a good spa treatment would make people happy. The % of people with bad QC seems high enough where i think Spyderco would help everyone.
 
Mine is a little off center. I think that's the nature of HAP 40. It's a thick blade in a narrow channel and HAP 40 is a very difficult steel to keep from warping. It's not as noticeable in smaller thinner blades. This is not an easy knife to make (at any cost). The natural G-10 is exceptional, also a difficult material to work with. Chamfers and reliefs are very good. Polished screws, stand offs and clip are beautiful. Polished skeletonized liners, perfectly matched to the scales with much weight removed. Grind lines are crisp. A beautiful job on a difficult grind on a very difficult san mai steel. Solid lock up on an arc ramp with perfect positioning. And bitching about the price? Why don't you ask your favorite custom maker what they would charge to make this knife out of a Hap 40 laminate? Then we can compare quality?

A drop of oil and some break in time also does wonders for quality construction.

I can see that if you are not satisfied with the knife, you might want to send it back, but I would not expect you to send it back after you mucked with it. And send your muck job to another poor customer?

I'm certainly keeping mine. If nothing else, for collector value. It's a beautiful example of the late Bob Lum's designing skill and the Seki makers's manufacturing skill. I guess if you look for positive, you see it, and if you look for negative, likewise.

sal
 
Wow...huh. Never found a real negative in a Spyderco before this one and it’s been close to 100 including ones i’ve traded. Guess I need to re-evaluate.
Edit: didn’t ‘muck’ with it either...
 
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