Spy. Lum Chinese Passaround - Evaluations

I used the Lum today at work to cut packing tape when opening some boxes- I generally ended up cutting into the box as well. For a late night diversion, I sliced up some Abruzzese sausage [a hard, dried sausage similar to pepperoni] and Asiago cheese. The knife went through the sausage like it was butter, and didn't require more than one cut per slice of meat. Obviously, the cheese sliced well; it didn't taste too good to me, but my mother enjoyed it.

I moved the clip for tip up carry, since I'm used to that now from my Sebenza's. There seems to be a very slight bit of horiz. blade play, less than 1/16". I would've tried to tighten the pivot screw, but couldn't find my hex key set. Anyway, I think that the blade is just that way, there is no vert. play whatsoever, and the blade does lock up tightly. It was like that when I received the knife, so I flicked the blade open only a couple or three times, not wanting to risk creating a worse problem. But, man, that blade just flies out of the handle when you flick it, about as fast as any auto knife, and it's legal. If I owned one of these, and it opened as smoothly, the flicking business could become very addictive.

The handle feels very natural in my hand, and the knife seems pretty easy to control. However, the handle seems a bit too small for my taste, and is fairly narrow. A slightly larger handle would be a nice touch, and perhaps wider. Of course, I've been carrying a large Sebenza for edc the past few months, which is slightly larger than the Lum, so this affects my opinion of the Lums feel.

Later...
 
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I did not have as much time as I thought I would have to play around with the Lum, but here are my thoughts on the knife.

As with the other spyderco blades I have had in my had it is well built.
It is light and very easy to carry.

The Lum can be carried tip up.

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or tip down.

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I did some cutting on a few pine boards I had in the garage such as the one below.
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There was 125 cuts made on the board showen above.
I only had about 1/2 of a day to really put the knife to use.
Most of the cutting I did was with cardboard, a little rope and the pine boards.
As I'm finding out with my Sypderco Ayoob plain edge knife the VG-10 steel that the Lum is made out of holds a edge very well.
I did sharpen the Lum when I received it to a hair shaving edge.
Befor I shipped the Lum to the next person all I had to do was steel the blade then strop it.
I really like the VG-10 steel.
The Lum fit my hand very well and flicked open really nice :)

Someday I hope to add a Lum to my collection of EDC knives.

The Lum was a joy to use.
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Thanks DaveH!

BTW: if anyone can tell me how I go about putting my photos in the center please email me, thanks.
 
Did you whittle or chop the wood, pahl?
And very nice pics... wish I have a good camera.
 
Originally posted by calyth
Did you whittle or chop the wood, pahl?
And very nice pics... wish I have a good camera.


Whittle,

I think adding photo's make it more interesting.
I know when I first found BF I would read about alot of differant knives and wonder what they looked like.
Lots of texted about this knife and that knife but no photo's :)
 
Got mine last Friday.
Took it to work Saturday and today.

Caught the clip and snapped it off!
Bummer! Sent it to Spyderco already.

I Second everything that has been said. For the short time I used it, I was impressed. Good steel, Smooth opening, very light, would like a larger handle (especially since I have bigger hands).

I also like the design for it's beauty, which is very helpful when you need to use your blade in public. Not many people are going to be scared of this one.
 
Originally posted by calyth
Did you got a new digital camera for that?

calyth:
I have had the digital camera for sometime.
I bought it to use for ebay auctions. I don't do much selling on ebay anymore, just because its getting harder to find time for it.



lunumbra:
Sorry to hear about the clip :(
 
This is my last day for evaluating the Lum Chinese folder, and so I thought I would post my review while it's still fresh in my head!

  • Initial Impression: Two things stood out for me. First, this isn't blue. It's more like silver? Secondly, I don't think I've ever handled a knife that opened this smoothly!
  • Fit/Finish: Typical Spyderco quality. Very nicely done!
  • Sharpness: Couldn't shave hair, could barely slice paper. Needs a touch-up (or resharpening), but I never got around to it. However, it was still sharp enough that my co-worker was impressed :)
  • Ergonomics: I felt the handle was quite functional for the types of cutting I do. It felt comfortable both in traditional forward grip as well as "apple-slicing" grip :)
  • Testing: Sadly, I did not cut down any boxes or rope or trees. However, I did use the knife to cut apple slices, tape, and open envelopes. The thin, flat-ground blade really excels at these tasks.
  • Carry: I switched the clip to tip-down carry, as that was more comfortable for my office slacks. Either position, though, exposed more handle than I usually care for. The knife was very unobtrusive, though, and hardly made it's presence known.
  • Overall Impression: Favorable. The width of the blade from spine to edge could be a disadvantage in certain situations. Otherwise, this is a very classy knife!

I'll be sending the Lum out to the next recipient tomorrow or Monday.

Thanks DaveH!

Matthew
 
You're welcome, that was person #6, four more to go and maybe we can buy something new to pass around. :D
 
The last person on the list was thinking about buying it. If they do, we'll buy something new with the $$ for the next passaround, if they don't it will either be put up forsale, or we'll gauge interest in another 'round with the same knife.
 
Too bad about the colour of the handle.
I woulda thought it would have been the same as the blue titanium salsa's


I got one on order, can't stand the wait for mine to finely arrive and put it through its paces.
 
I think the color of the Lum handle is correct, it's not supposed to be blue like the Salsa, it's "gunmetal blue", in other words a silvery light blue.
 
Got the Lum yesterday. My first impression: very attractive, different, and quite sharp! I'm kinda liking that smaller handle to larger blade combination. Will post more later.:D
 
I sent the Lum to the next guy this AM, so I'll try to sum up my feelings about the knife. Typical Spydie - no QC issues that I could detect. Very attractive handle finish/color and drew favorable comments from friends whether opened or closed. I've been drawn to larger "tacticals" for quite some time, but I must say the Lum left me with an overall positive impression, perhaps second only to the Spydie Wegner Jr., for knives in that size range. I performed a wide variety of cutting tasks associated with plumbing and electrical jobs (I'm building a new house), as well as food prep. The blade held an edge very well: I only needed to realign the edge twice with some Norton metal polishing cloth. There were a few tasks the blade really isn't suited for, eg paring apples or stripping wire...but push/pull cuts on a flat surface are handled nicely. It also easily opened parcels, cut plastic sheeting and heavy duct-wrap. I have no problems with the knife's ergonomics...LOVE the "look"...and may very well buy one, should I gravitate back to smaller knives. Thanks for the test-run, Dave!
 
Picked up the Lum this morning. My first impression was that its a typical Spydie i.e. strange handle and blade shape as in the Ayoob and Shabaria although not quite as extreme. But its suprisingly easy to handle, unlike the Shabaria. The handle IMO is too slick, not sure if it has an Almite coating but it could stand to have a bead blasted or maybe a textured (G10?) handle, which would improve it drastically. Tried slicing through a bag of Nestles Fruit Snacks and wouldn't cut it at all. Took it to my Lansky Ceramic Sticks and it sharpened up immediately. Will be taking it to work the next couple of days and will try to give it a good work out. Will update when I ship it out.
 
Sent the Lum off this morning. My final thoughts are as follows:

1. The handle has good ergonomics but is too slick. The almite coating needs to be a little rougher, beadblasted? Plus, even as small as I am the handle is just a bit too short.

2. The blade is an excellent cutter! I sliced through nylon rope with absolutely no problem. The blade held an edge pretty good and was no problem to sharpen. The only complaint was the overall blade shape. I prefer a finer tip (or any tip at all). The Lum's tip limited its use a little.

3. Fit and finish were typically outstanding.

Overall, any complaints were just minor. It didn't convince me to buy and keep a Spyderco but did come damn close. I definitely prefered it to my previous Spydercos.

Dave I appreciate the opportunity to have tried it out. Maybe the Temperence will change my mind.
 
So where could I get a Lum Chinese Leaf handle modded? I'd love some G10 or even just some texturing on the handle...

Also, a lower-riding clip would be good...
 
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