Ball bearing lock opinions

Knifeoholic

Knifeoholic

Joined
Feb 8, 2016
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Hey Spyder people! My apologies if this has been covered before, I tried a quick search but found nothing. I was looking at the Spydie catalogue, and the new Q Ball really caught my eye (amongst MANY others :D). I have never tried the ball bearing lock before and was just curious how y'all like it? Can you get a good grip on the ball quite easily? With wet hands? Or gloves? How do you like it compared to a bolt lock? It seems like it would be pretty strong locking mechanism, and I always enjoy trying something new!

Any comments welcome, thanks!
 
BB lock is everything the axis lock could have been if they got the designer's smarter older brother to design it. No omega springs to fudge up, self adjusting for wear. Easy to use, ambidextrous you need to experience this lock.
 
The caged ball bearing lock, like on the Manix, is easy to operate once you get used to it.

The naked/non-caged one, like on the Dodo, not so much. It is a nice visual feature, and locks up solidly, but it is more fiddly to close consistently. I like the looks of the exposed ball bearing. It works for some knives, but I would not choose it for a work knife. Wet or gloved hand friendly? Unfortunately no IMHO...
 
It's a good lock. I'm not familiar with the knife so not sure which version of the BB lock it uses, but I like the caged BB lock better than trying to grab the slippery ball alone.

That said, I can't agree with the "BB lock is everything the AXIS lock could have been...". IMO the BB lock is trying to emulate the AXIS while making enough changes to get around the patents, but not by making advancements but compromises, though that is completely my opinion.

I don't have a problem with omega springs. Yeah, some may break but it is perpetuated and magnified by the internet. And if one breaks a replacement can easily be made at home with a piece of wire, pliers, and some patience. The AXIS also adjusts for wear, is ambidextrous, and is even more easy to use, IMO, as it's easier to pull back on the lock. It also has less parts and strength comes from slots in the solid liners. The BB lock relies on the back spacer that is held in place by screws. Which can loosen, move, and effect lockup. The lock relies on 4 screws for strength. The AXIS would require the liners to rip apart and the slots tear instead. It's a more simple design and one of the most elegant lock designs on the market. IMO as a (now disabled/retired) mechanical engineer.

I know this is the Spyderco forum and the BB lock is a good lock. I just don't feel it's better than the AXIS and would be happy to debate or hear any thoughts on why the BB is better.

I love Spyderco knives and I like some Bemchmade knives but I love the AXIS lock from an engineering and a user standpoint. There are other good locks but none quite as refined, and I'm excited for the patent to run out so it can be used, tweaked, and refined by other makers in the not so distant future.

Anyways, sorry for going off on a tangent.
 
I like the caged ball bearing, but looking forward to the new D'Allara.

[video=youtube;M5_iySg7Jn0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5_iySg7Jn0[/video]
 
Ball bearings are designed to provide minimal friction, an application that requires you to grip one is somewhat counter intuitive. At any rate, I have limited feeling in my hands, so I find the "naked" ball bearing lock on knives like the Dodo, D'Allara, and Poliwog difficult to disengage even with dry hands. Q Ball appears to use a ceramic ball instead of a steel one, but I don't see that offering any more traction. I suppose someone with longer, stronger, fingernails might be able to use them to gain purchase on the ball, but that's not an option for me. Gloves could help, or hurt depending on material and thickness. I find caged balls are much easier to disengage, and the bolt action lock on the Sage 3 even easier.
 
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One thing about it that I seldom see mentioned is it's bias towards closing. Everybody wants to talk about tip orientation when the discussion of knives opening in the pocket comes up. That is valid now that we live in a world filled with ball bearing flippers. I appreciate knives with a bias towards closing and the ball bearing lock much like the back lock has this feature. The ball bearing lock and back lock are also both ambidextrous. I love other locks too but it can't be denied that the bb/axis/bolt locks and back lock have those two advantages over the widely popular frame/liner/comp locks.
 
I have a Spyderco Tusk. I have a hard time closing it using my thumb alone. My Axis locks and button locks work much better using my thumb only.
 
Ive owned two dodo's and still own one and Edc it everyday for the last two or three months. Most of my cutting tasks are usually cardboard, plastic wrap and also pallet straps. The one dodo I did end up keeping was a user when I bought it. I will say that my orange Dodo the new one I had was one of the tougher locks to unlock it was hard to unlock you had to get your finger nails in front of the BB to unlock it that was on hell of a spring. But the older dodo I have works like a dream it lock up tight and unlock very easy. So if they use a lighter spring like in the old ones id recommend it.

But, as for debris getting in it, It will happen I was working on my friends car with him and there was a lot of laying on the ground involved. Out were he lives there is no paved drive way and all it was dirty and sand. But even after all of that it still worked it was really gritty but it worked.

Hope that helps.
 
I love, love, love my poliwog, but disengaging the lock would definitely not be my first choice for either gloves or a slippery environment. The knife itself would be fine for either, just not lock disengagement. Obligatory pic.
4vxlRBb.jpg
 
I have one of the blue PE Dodo models I've had since they were introduced back in 03 that I EDC at least 3 times a month or so. Now I used to have problems with the ball bearing lock gathering lint and dirt until a machinist friend of mine recommended me to start using dry lube instead of the Militec 1 which is a synthetic oil lube which i had been using and concluded that it wasn't the right lube for that type of locking system. For about the past 6 years or so I've been using norhing but dry lubes including Sentry Solutions "BP-2000" which works extremely well with the Dodo ball bearing lock.

I've also got another dry lube with PTFE/Teflon compounds and I've also got a graphite dry lube with other stuff in it and they all work really well in that Dodo model. By using dry lubes exclusively on the ball bearing mechanism I've not had one failure at all and I now tend to put ball bearing locks into my top 3 favorite locking systems.

When the ball bearing lock is working properly it sure is very reliable IMO. I would love to see a Dodo model in a large size and scale also with a ball bearing lock.
 
Thanks much for all the great info, pictures and videos everyone! It is very much appreciated. Reminds me why I love this wonderful place! Sounds like a good tip about the dry lube as well JD. By the sounds of it I think I need to try one! I stopped at a local shop and got to try the caged bb lock on the Manix and I really liked it, but they had no models with the ceramic ball.

Im very temped to try the bolt lock as well, especially since the Sage 3 is now discontinued. I do like the axis lock, but I've heard of the omega springs breaking (as mentioned above), and have not yet heard about any spring issues with the Spyders.

Here's a pic of the knife I was looking at in the catalogue, just for some eye candy!



Thanks again for the great info dudes! :thumbup:
 
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