Backup100BLK

The Lum in question in my previous post has sold on Ebay. If the buyer is a reader of his blog, I would appreciate it if they could send me a picture of the engraved initials "B.L.", and a clean picture of the tip if possible. I'm still not sure it's one of Bob's work, but it does have many traits that would make it one.

There is a knife being sold on a well known auction website currently, and I've gotten a few emails asking about it's authenticity. Based on the pictures posted in the auction, I can't for certain say it is a Lum custom. Which begs the question: how can you tell? For starters, Bob always signed his work. Prior to the famous "Chop" logo, he would stamp the letters LUM on the ricasso of the blade. See the picture of the two ivory tantos by Jim Cooper for an example. There are exceptions. I have one knife he has authenticated to be his where he signed the knife with his Chinese Lum character on the brass pin, but this was one of his earliest work. Then there is his hand-rubbed satin finish. One of his signatures. It's very easy to spot the Lum finish once you've seen it before. His grind lines. As mentioned before, Bob is considered by many knifemakers to be one of the best grinders in the business. His grind lines are always clean and symmetrical. The best w...

I've gotten a few emails asking me about the current aftermarket prices for Bob's knives. To be honest, it's hard to explain the Custom Knife market prices. Just before Bob was diagnosed with his illness, the prices for his knives in the aftermarket climbed tremendously. People were willing to pay a very high premium for his knives, if they were not able to buy one from him directly. At the time, it was simply a matter of low supply to high demand. The prices climbed a bit more once his illness was made public, when there was a further increase in demand for his knives. Since Bob's passing, they seem to have maintained the same level as just prior to his illness being made public. But not all of his pieces are selling at the same level of premium. There is currently a distinct advantage in prices for his folders over his fixed blades; and even more with his later models. The ultimate price for any of Bob's pieces will be determined by the market. It will be set by t...

Version 2 completed. Format is now 16:9, perfect for my iMac. Same link as before.

Created a high resolution collage of the "Lum on Leather" pictures and uploaded it to Picasa. It's in a 4X6 format. The link is here . To get the full resolution image, you will need to download it. Size is 2.3MB.