How To Un-Bum a Lum?

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Pleconin

Joined
Feb 27, 1999
Messages
71
I Recently bought a new Lum. I decided I would like to carry it tip up, so I set to work unscrewing the clip. First screw came out OK. Second stripped real smooth. Flustered I tried the third only to have it strip. Upon closer inspection I found the first screw had a little blue something on it. Loctite! Well, now I’m in trouble. I e-mailed the factory outlet for new screws, and was told to ask again in couple of weeks as they where out of stock of screws. My real problem is getting the stripped screws out. I have a Dremel, which I’m itching to use. Any suggestions?

-Rw

BTW, When did Spyderco start using loctite on their screws?
 
Pleconin - sorry to hear of your woes with the Lum. Okay time to put your Dremel to use. Put the cut off wheel on it and carefully cut slots in the head of the screw to convert them to flathead crews. Try not to cut too deep, just barely enough to hold a precision flathead screwdriver in place. Then carefully back the screw out. Hope this helps and good luck.

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AKTI Member # A000005
Living life "on the edge"
 
Pleconin - Sorry sbout your dilema. We've been putting loctite on the screws since 1981.

If you can't get the screw out, you might shoot it back to us. We have a custom machine to remove the screws.

sal
 
Thanks Dexter, I'll try it today.

And sorry for the dumb question Sal. I bought the black pocket clips for my Starmate and Military, and the screws on those seemed to come right out. I never considered the possibility they where loctited. I guess the G-10 did not hold the loctite as well as the titanium.

Wish me luck! Hopefully I won’t cut the knife in half.
 
Hey Pleconin, I thought I was the only clown that that happened to. I tried ti switch the clip and the same thing happened. The heads of the screws stripped out. I e-mailed spyderco to get new screws twice, and no response. Luckily they didn't completely strip out and I was able to get them back. Originally when I sam the knife on the cover of KI approx a year and a half a go, I counldn't wait to get the knife. But once I gor it I was a little disappointed. Like many other knives, like my Starmate, with even a slight flick of the wrist one can open the knife almost as faqst as an auto. The Lum is balanced to do that, but upon opening it the damn liner went as far across as possible and it took some real effort to close it. So now I carry it, tip-down, the way it came and i don't flick it open with my wrist only.
 
Hmmm . . . short of using some tool I've never heard of (what's a dremel?), is there anyway to get the screws out? The two on mine that didn't come out when i tried to reverse the clip aren't stripped too badly but they don't wanna come out . . .

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Simon Yu

"I look at it this way. If things get much worse I'll be too dead to care."
 
Try heating the screws up by holding the tip of a soldering iron on the head of each screw for a few seconds. Then try unscrewing them. The heat from the soldering iron transfered through the screw "breaks" the loctite.
It doesn't take much depending on the soldering iron, and don't hold the iron to anything else on the knife.
If you don't have access to a soldering iron you can try a match or candle but its less precise and potentially messier.
 
Didn't have a soldering iron so had to try it with a lighter. That didn't work out too well. One of the screws is pretty badly stripped now, the other that had problems coming out isn't in great shape either. I think that sending it back to have them remove the screws might be a good idea now.

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Simon Yu

"I look at it this way. If things get much worse I'll be too dead to care."
 
Well, at least I’m not alone.

Simon, never heard of a Dremel? Yikes! Better get to www.dremel.com. They are great for putting a little extra polish on knives. Smooth out actions, that sort of thing. With a cutting wheel you can cut extra slots on a stripped screw. I decided to wait till I have the new screws to do it though.

Sal, any luck with those screws yet? I sent a follow up e-mail to Angela on Wednesday, but I have yet to hear back from her.

Any chance of a Lum blade in a G-10 body? I think that would look pretty good.


 
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