Dodo lock reliability

KeithAM

KeithAM

Joined
Dec 15, 2003
Messages
3,154
I'm thinking about getting one. I'd like to hear your experiences with the ball lock, good or bad.

Thanks! :)
 
Keith Mayton said:
I'm thinking about getting one. I'd like to hear your experiences with the ball lock, good or bad.

Thanks! :)
Click to expand...
Good. Never had mine loosen up, disengage, or get snagged. I can put alot of force behind the knife and the lock has not failed.
 
There is one thing to think about if you have never handled one.
Large fingers and short nails (like mine) makes it very hard to unlock.
 
Some of early ones had burrs on the piston skirt/shaft/track, which made them hard to unlock. I have one, bought used. I took it apart and emery clothed everything. So definitely lookm for new stock and maybe wait for the bronze washer model.
 
I recently got the Dodo and haven't found any issues with the lock. Appears very solid and reliable.
 
Thanks for the replies -- very helpful.

I'd like to avoid the early ones -- were the problems limited to one color handle (i.e., was blue introduced first like the Yojimbo, or the other way around)?
 
I've been EDCing a blue-handled Dodo for the last 6 months, and have been nothing but pleased with the lock.

Catches just right every time and stays rock solid until I want it to close.

I'd highly recommend one, they make a great day-to-day companion.
 
DaveH said:
Some of early ones had burrs on the piston skirt/shaft/track, which made them hard to unlock. I have one, bought used. I took it apart and emery clothed everything. So definitely lookm for new stock and maybe wait for the bronze washer model.
Click to expand...

When was yours born?

Mine is 10/21/03 and I have not problems. ;)
 
After some days of use, the ball of my black Dodo started to stick, which lead to lock-failure because the ball didn't travel far enough. I guess the problem was caused by some dirt or abrasion of the lock.

I polished the look-area, it has been working fine since then. It's my EDC and I trust the lock 100% now.
 
We have two Dodos. One is an early blue model (my EDC for well over a year), then my wife made me get one for her last year, and that's black. No lock problems with either of them.

I was also in the first(?) Dodo pass-around long ago, before I got mine, and the lock on that one worked fine as well.
 
I have one and am rather dissapointed in it. I love the design, the blade shape, the handle shape, the overall thinness but sturdyness of the knife, but have had problems with the lock. I thought about sending it back but it's an intermittent problem and I figured if I sent it back it would work fine. Mine fails to lock up sometimes. I can't find any apparent reason for it. I can close it just by pushing the blade with my thumb. I'll do this five or six times and then it will lock up just fine. My axis lock benchmade has never done that, not even full of crud. I know that mine is just a fluke but I have to have some faith in a knife to carry and use it. I love my other spydies, just not the dodo. Mine has a black handle for what that's worth. The ball bearing lock seems like it would be even more prone to failure if it became dirty. Everyone else seems to love theirs. Oh well.
 
The ball bearing of the Dodo that I had my hand on totally impressed me. I wish they would use that kind of lock on more models. Personally I don't understand the complained about the difficulty to unlock. I have very short fingernails and still no problem. I do have fairly slender fingers though. Average for a typical pencil pusher like me :).
 
I've recently gone back to EDCing my Dodo. Fell in love with the darned thing all over again. Ultra useful blade shape, thin profile, grippy pocket clip, large Spyder hole, scary sharp blade and easy to keep that way with the Sharpmaker, butter smoooooth action, and bombproof lock. :eek:

Hopefully the switch to PB washers won't add any additional thickness to the knife. The Dodo's thin profile is one of it's great virtues.
 
The dodo is getting PB washers? thats great. Cant inagine mine getting any smoother. Very solid lock up. I still cant figure how the ball stays in there but this is closest to a fixed blade of any lock I've owned, including Axis and Sebenza.
 
All Golden-made Spyders are scheduled to switch over to to PB washers. Some already have them.
 
I bought a used dodo with lock problems myself, you can send it in, or what I did is disasembled and emery papered the pisto, skirt, channel, etc. to fix it.
 
u812 said:
There is one thing to think about if you have never handled one.
Large fingers and short nails (like mine) makes it very hard to unlock.
Click to expand...

I agree. This is why I sold the one I had. If you are a nail biter you may as well move on to another knife and skip the DODO. At least that is how it was for me. I found myself having to carry another mini tool just to be able to release the Dodo blade because I had no fingernail to do it for me. My being a big guy anyway with large hands and fat fingers didn't help either when trying to release the blade.
 
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