Dodo annoyances

Joined
Apr 3, 2005
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I loved the Poliwog so much that I had to get a Dodo too.

In one way, the dodo is better. Due to a small difference in the design of the lock, the Dodo stays closed much better and doesn't have as much resistance to the final closing as the Poliwog.

The biggest problem with the knife is it is pretty much impossible to close with one hand. My fingers grip on the G10 when I try to move the ball. The ball also sticks in place when the blade is open, so not only do I have to work with the g10 being in the way, the ball has an extra force required to move it. I would try enlarging the opening for the lock, but the little screw that holds the spacer in place is really close.

Two additional problems were little sounds, not major defects.

The first thing I noticed is there is usually a click sound when the blade opens and the ball rolls past the sharp hump that the ball pushes against to hold the blade closed. When the ball goes past this hump, it is switched from being pushed towards the finger groove side of the handle to being pushed towards the spine of the handle, causing the click sound. Sometimes the sound isn't there, depending on how slippery or sticky the mechanism is at the time and how fast the blade is opened. The Poliwog doesn't do this at all because the lock is designed a little different, with the ball always being pushed towards the spine of the handle.

A second issue was a slight creaking sound at a few points, mainly the same point when the ball clicks (I think that's the "deepest" point for the ball). I took off one half of the handle, and I saw that the inner spring (not quite visible from the outside like the outer spring is) was slipping into the most rearward shaft that onlt the solid piston is supposed to go in. One or two loops of the spring would slip in. This was easily fixed by adding a small washer.
 
I have no difficulty closing Dodos one handed. I have smallish hands. I have had at least 6 Dodos.
 
Here's my technique:

Pinch the ball or just in front of the ball with your thumb and middle finger. You can brace the end of the handle into your palm and/or use your ring finger to help stabilize the knife. Pull back on the ball with your thumb/middle fingers, and use your index finger to close the blade down. It's really pretty easy but I'm sure I've made it sound more complicated. One of these days I need to play with taking and posting small vid clips.
 
Thanks trout. I can get it to work that way, but the handle is just a little bit too long for it to be convenient. I can do the same with the Poliwog of course.

I have been grabbing the spine of the handle with my middle, ring, and pinkie. Index finger is on the back of the blade and my thumb nail pushes down on the ball. Maybe the lock will wear in a little and stop sticking.
 
trout #2 said:
Here's my technique:

Pinch the ball or just in front of the ball with your thumb and middle finger. You can brace the end of the handle into your palm and/or use your ring finger to help stabilize the knife. Pull back on the ball with your thumb/middle fingers, and use your index finger to close the blade down. It's really pretty easy but I'm sure I've made it sound more complicated. One of these days I need to play with taking and posting small vid clips.

This is pretty much the method I use.

I can easily/unhurriedly open and close my Dodo 5 times in 10 seconds only using one hand (and no inertia or cheating with a leg push).
 
For me the annoyance is not being able to loosen the screws to change the clip. I use a torx bit on each side but it's so tight it eventually slips and I wind up scraping my hand. Also, although I could not loosen the screw, somehow I managed to tighten it a little which made it a little stiff without a lot of lube.

When I first got mine it would close just by pressing the blade sometimes. The bearing would just squirt back like a pea. I was going to dissassemble it like someone else did but due to the tight screws I was unable to. I decided to use it as a work knife, I work in a hospital lab so it's a pretty clean environment, just some boxes to open and other stuff to trim.

Eventually I noticed I could not close the blade without pulling back the ball, it seemed to work properly. Then recently I lost it at work. I ordered another one off e-bay because I could find no other knife to fill it's void. I got a blue one this time! I can't wait to get it, I found my old one today but hopefully my new one will not have any defects. I was using my cricket but broke the tip on a plastic jug. It didn't really hurt it much, it's hardly noticable but the thicker dodo blade works better poking the occasional hole in a plastic jug. I'm hoping I can loosen the clip screw as well.

At any rate it seems to be the perfect knife for my purposes. Sometimes I have to scrape labels off tubes and the shape of the dodo blade works great for this. I think I'm the only person in the lab with a knife, the others hack at stuff using scissors, scalpels, forceps and other inappopriate tools. I don't understand why they don't just get the right tool for the job.
 
For the pivot and pocket clip screws, there is nothing to keep the opposing side from turning so you might not be able to unscrew it. I needed to use two drivers at once to remove mine.
 
I used 2 drivers, the screws were just too tight. At least I will have a use for the 2 torx driver sets I got just to use on that dodo!
 
It kina sounds like it just needs to be broken in. And like others have said, close it like how you would flick and Axis lock knife close. :thumbup:
 
It WAS broken in. When I tried to take the clip off I also tried to loosen the screw on the blade. When I couldn't loosen it I thought maybe the threads were reversed for some reason. They weren't, I managed to make it a little tighter.

It's no biggie really, but it needs a lot of lube. I don't need the clip and would like to be able to take it off, we'll see how it goes with the new one.
 
Well, I finally worked out the unlocking problem with a little modification, and this is now once of my main working knives. The G10 weighs hardly anything, but it doesn't bend at all and I can hold onto it amazingly well. It also helps that everyone who has seen it so far thinks it's the coolest knife ever. :)
 
I always assumed that the difficulty one encounters when trying to close the BB Lock with one finger is a feature. Makes it harder to close accidentally. If I pinch the front of the ball with my index finger and thumb, I can easily pull back the ball and swing the blade closed (like an Axis, as someone else noted).
 
One of the things I like about spydie knives are how light and flat some of the models are. I have a couple benchmades I love but the delica just dissapears in my pocket. I don't carry the native as much because of the bulk but I really love the shape of the blade. The polywog looks promising but when it's closed the end with the blade hinge looks wide and bumpy or something, not a clean smoothe look. The dodo is so light and flat! Plus the blade is strong enough to poke holes in the toughest plastic jug without damage. I like the serrated model, I have no trouble sharpening it although I actually haven't managed to dull it very much.

My only concern is if you worked in a dirty environment the spring and ball mechanism might goop up. Since so many people use it this must be a non-issue. I would like mine better if I could take it apart to clean it. I've managed using canned air, cleaner, and light oil so I guess that's a non-issue too.

I can't wait to get my new one! It's blue!
 
Well I got my new one. The old one had the blade closing problem and still has a little play in it although it hasn't closed in a long time. The new one locked up tight!!! Real tight!! The ball took a little force to disengage. I figured it would loosen up a bit so did the usual open/close dance that I do with a new knife. Sometimes the piston would stick either open or closed and I noticed some G10 flashing around the hole so I trimmed that up. The jamming was solved but the bearing is still catchy. I could close my old one one-handed but it takes 2 hands sometimes for this one. Of course the screws are so tight I can't take off the clip let alone dissasemble it.

It looks different than my other one also, the part of the blade the bearing rides on is above the oval bearing cutout on one but not the other. I think that's why some people say they have no trouble opening and closing it one handed and other people do. I have a blister on one finger just from working the blade trying to get it to smoothe out like my other one, I could work the other one with one hand and hoped to do the same with this one. I really love the blade shape and the thinness of the knife but I'm not really sold on the bearing lock yet. I havn't had any problems with my axis lock knives, but they are thick and I like the thin ones.

Oh well. I would send it back but I don't even think it counts as a defect. :(
 
gitarmac said:
Oh well. I would send it back but I don't even think it counts as a defect. :(

You could try it anyway. It's not exactly a cheap knife, so there is nothing wrong with expecting to get a little more consistency. Maybe they can pick out one that works better.
 
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