BM 760 LFTi Bob Lum

m6894

m6894

Joined
May 1, 2009
Messages
62
I thought since its a relatively new production knife I should step up and do a review on the thing. Let me start by saying i'm still not sure if I like the 760 right now its a love hate relationship.

Cant get pics to post so here is a gallery with all the pics: (includes pocket clip pic next to an Al Mar mini SERE 2000)

http://gallery.me.com/m6894/100045


I got it from a local knife shop and brought it home the factory edge was pretty dull from mid-blade to the handle, and the bevel was set very wide probably around or over 35 deg. Like an Axe or something.

The dull knife bit me first thing when I was making a cut on some cloth ribbon as you can see in the pics. I guess it wants to be truly mine as we started with a blood pact.

The first thing after I got my wound wrapped up I re- beveled the edge with a Lansky diamond kit. M4 is very nice to sharpen but the amount of metal on this thing made it take a really long time. First I removed some mettle on a 250 ice bear water stone. then I settled for 20 deg along the blade and 25 deg on the tanto point. on the medium and fine diamond I moved to 25 on the main blade and 30 on the point. Mainly because I was tired of grinding metal.

After sharpening....
http://gallery.me.com/m6894/100037/PICT0025

The BM 760 is a solid Ti Frame lock knife


http://gallery.me.com/m6894/100037/PICT0014

It locks up solid with an authoritative sound and was smooth after sticking the first 10 times or so. There is a tiny bit of blade play that seems to be lessoning the more I beat the thing up.

http://gallery.me.com/m6894/100037/PICT0017


The detent is a little weak (or maybe the blade to heavy) it will come open if you flick it hard enough. I don't think it would come open in a pocket though even if it was tip up. It takes a good swing to open.

I took it out back and chopped of a dozen or so small limbs from the hackberry. Hacked a few larger limbs 3/4-1" and sharpened a few sticks. Then batoned the knife into some treated fence and deck lumber. I think you could put this through a car door.

http://gallery.me.com/m6894/100037/PICT0020

http://gallery.me.com/m6894/100037/PICT0014

http://gallery.me.com/m6894/100037/PICT0012

After the use in the backyard i came back in and cut some paper

http://gallery.me.com/m6894/100037/PICT0026

Its not as sharp but still pretty impressive.

The BM 760 is not a slicer I attempted to cut some cardboard just to bind on the blade 2-5" into the slice (pics first link). My 710 went right through this same box.

This makes it not so good for an EDC blade IMO.

(edit) Also you might notice the bk1 while a tough coating doesn't last long under use with all the high points on the blade.

(edit) As pointed out below the frame lock does make 100% contact with the tang of the blade, and has a small amount of wiggle. from looking at video on youtube it looks like it was designed this way but we will have to wait until some other people report back on there 760's

I would love to hear how the original Bob Lum Tanto II compares. http://www.boblumknives.com/images/folder8.jpg
 
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If I got one the first thing I'd do is send it to Tom Krein to be converted to FFG. :D
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
If I got one the first thing I'd do is send it to Tom Krein to be converted to FFG. :D
Click to expand...


Really thinking hard about that. maybe a hollow grind with less point to the tanto like a Hinderer. I sent him an email already. ;)
 
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I already e mailed Tom Krein, and I'm thinking hollow grind with a nice swedge grind. FFG was my first thought, but then I worried about the thumbstud and saw a 760 that Krein did over on the Benchmade forums. I think a hollow grind with a .015" edge would cut very good and still be durable. I haven't sent the knife off yet so I am still open to trying a FFG if the thumbstud will still reattack on an angled surface, but I'm leaning towards the hollow grind now.

Mike
 
It seems like the lock up is a bit late on that knife. What are your thoughts?
 
gunmike1 said:
I'll report where mine locks up when it arrives tomorrow. If mine looks like that I would adjust the pivot, and if that didn't resolve it off to Benchmade it would go.

Mike
Click to expand...

Alright fill a newb in. Somethings wrong with the lockup?
 
m6894 said:
Alright fill a newb in. Somethings wrong with the lockup?
Click to expand...

What they mean is, from your pic of the lock up, it looks as though the lock-face doesn't have much room left for wear (a majority of the lock-face is already making contact with the blade's tang). Ideally, a frame-lock should start out with less of the lock-face contacting the blade's tang, so there is room for wear over time (the closer the lock is to touching the opposite scale, the less room there is for wear). I hope this helps you out.

Regards,
3G

P.S. Great review!

Edit: Here's a link to a thread that may help you out. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=644409
 
Nice review.

The lock-up looks reasonable to me, given the angle in the picture and the relative thinness of the scales in relation to the blade thickness.
 
Thanks for the edu. I tried google to no avail. payday today so I can upgrade my membership to search, yay.
I think the lockup would be tighter if it was 75% engaged with more angle on the tang. Maybe I should give BM a call and see what they intended for the knife. If I could do over I would just save for a custom. It looked so nice in the knife shop. I hope with a Krein regrind I can salvage this into something I will use.

(update) BM said the lock should be 50% engaged so Im sending it in for warranty service.
 
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I'm sure Benchmade will do you right with their warranty. As for the knife itself, you would be amazed how a Krein regrind can turn a prybar into a superior cutter. dj on Benchmade forums had a hollow grind done on his, removing the tanto, and notes way improved cutting, and he has another factory 760 to do a direct comparison with. I have 10 or so Krein regrinds, and every single one, even my already thin Police 3, came back cutting much better than before. It is amazing what removing steel in the right places on a blade does for cutting ability.

Mike
 
I got my 760 last night, and have some mixed thoughts on it. The lock up is excellent, with it's .142" thick lock slab engaging right at 50%, and the cutout is a respectable .049" thick (compared to the .033" cutouts I've heard of on other knives). The blade was very dull with a .024" thick edge. While that edge thickness doesn't sound bad, you have to take into account the edge was over 30 degrees per side, and the blade is extremely poor for cutting (I already knew that). The part that bothers me a bit is the blade being off center enough to hit the non-locking handle. I hope to correct this by adjusting, but pivot and stop pin adjustments did nothing. If I have Tom Krein go FFG with a full distal taper the knife would probably not hit the opposite handle anymore, but it might still be an issue if I only get it hollow ground without some sort of distal taper. I'd really rather not have to send it to Benchmade, so any tips on adjusting the blade to not hitting the handle is greatly appreciated.

As for the edge for now, I couldn't help myself and immediately took it to the DMT XX Coarse and thinned it to 14 degrees per side. I took it through the grits to 8000 grit, then finished at 16 per side with the 8000 grit stone and 1 micron and .3 micron lapping films. It gets nice and sharp, but still won't win any cutting contests due to the thick grind. As soon as I get the blade centering issue taken care of I can't wait to send it to Krein for a real cutting oriented grind more befitting CPM M4. I guess the other issue would be whether or not the thumb stud would still screw in tight after a FFG.

Mike
 
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this is borrowed from DJ's posts over at BM forum for everyones reference. Thanks to gunmike1 for telling me where to look.

o2djvt

For The rest of the pics: http://gallery.me.com/m6894/100061

I Still have to send mine in to benchmade, but I'm tempted to replace the stop pin anyway. Its a hex shape and seems weak to me.

Starting to really dig the Tanto shape. We cleaned the garage out today and cut down two short beds trucks of cardboard for the recycler. The 710 sliced well, made box cutters feel like toys. The 760 works OK with the front half of the blade for that but its not at home with it. It is kind of nice to have a folder you could chop a sapling down with or put through drywall or FRP without worry.

I'm thinking down the road getting Krein to hollow grind the existing shape and keeping a little more meat but I would probably bead blast the blade instead of two tone. Anyone thinking of putting scales on one of these?
 
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Reeek said:
It seems like the lock up is a bit late on that knife. What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...

I'm also thinking the same,for a brand new BM framelock it should be around 50% engagement with the blade tang.
 
Now that regrind looks awesome! Mike, sometimes just disassembling the knife and putting it back together will take care of an off centered blade. Also, if you don't want to that, just open the knife and appy pressure to the flat of the blade and push the blade towards the scale it is about to contact when closed. It would seem that you should push away, but don't as that will make it worse. Sometimes it needs a strong push and I simoply lay the flat of the blade on a wooden table, with cloth underneath, and then apply pressure, again towards the side of the handle it seems to be coming in contact with. Also, loosen the pivot screw slightly before doing this. When done, close the knife and then tighten to your wants. This has worked 90% of the time I've done it.:thumbup::D
 
Thanks Cutter17, I tried the pressure trick on the blade and got some clearance from the blade to the handle. It isn't centered but now it is enough off the handle to not be an issue worth worrying about. Tomorrow it goes out to Tom Krein with 2 Spydercos for regrinds.

Mike
 
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