Whyyy, dodo disappointment

[Bradley]

Fixed it for now. I tapped the spine, in the thumb ramp area, against my wooden kitchen table and it freed the ball bearing. Huh. I hope that'll work every time. :o

[Blerv]

I'm not sure what you'd tweak about the geometry of the lock yourself, so I'd concur with you on that. That said, I personally would have gone after it with a suite of different lubricants before throwing in the towel. Then again, perhaps not everyone has that sort of thing in their shop and it certainly isn't reasonable for Spyderco to expect them to as it is neither in the description nor owner's manual.

I'm only going by personal experience. My D'Allara Rescue was slick as can be. As is my Dodo G10. FAR smoother than any RIL in my collection. They are bone dry.

I'm not sure why the Dodo is different. Maybe because it has tighter tolerances than the average BBL. Maybe it was just a freak knife. The "sloppy" ones haven't failed me yet though but admittedly I dont own an original Dodo. :)

As for that original Dodo it was locked-open on a coin-toss; annoying to say the very least. Spyderco couldn't fix it so replaced the knife with another one. I could have probably dinked with it but it was the one time I deferred to the pros and per Charlotte they "fixed it but it was making an audible clicking noise so replaced the knife". I think I'm batting a 1% ratio of Spyderco returns to date but it seems a good decision.

Overall I don't think the knife or even lock is flawed. My D'Allara was amazing but just a bit chunky for pocket carry. I sold my Phoenix because it never got carried. I'm looking forward to the D'Allara2 at some point or any other non-caged BBL knife they make. It's a supremely sexy looking lock :D.

[timlara]

Agreed. My D'Allara is also incredibly smooth, second only to my Sage 3's bolt action lock.

Pretty much everything about the D'Allara is different from the Dodo, though -- heavier, has liners, longer blade for different opening arc, larger ball bearing, etc -- so it's hard to say what specifically makes the lock feel so much smoother.

And of course all that being said, my orange Dodo is absolutely just fine from a functional standpoint. It's only in comparison to the D'Allara side-by-side that the "problem" would be noticeable enough for me to actually complain about. :D

[hunterseeker5]

My Dodo has always been smooth as well.

Beyond the technical characteristics of steel, I honestly don't know what to tell you. I don't know why some of these BBLs are much much MUCH more stubborn than others. God knows Spyderco produces a lot of the Manix model. Mine would get mildly stuck, lubrication solved that, but never anything that I'd have even contemplated trying a screwdriver on.

I will say though that saying something is "bone dry" may or may not be relevant. There are plenty of surface-bonding dry film lubricants which could have been applied without your knowledge. While I doubt it is relevant in this case, it is also possible to (for example) sinter a part with trapped lubricant, like the anvil, which will self lubricate for years. I had a great video of this somewhere, and now I can't find it. Oh well. Anyway, you see my point. IDFK how they lubricate these locks, but if it works it'd sure be a cheap fix.

[Blerv]

I trust ya guys and my Wog is silk and has the same construction style as the Dodo (as far as I know). Im not sure what the answer is but am not the one who has to make the knives work optimally. Probably a good thing on so many levels, lol .

[stalag2]

I seldom use my Dodo hard but one time i had it sticky after aggressive wood stock removal, i had to lightly tap the spine on wood a few time while pressing the ball bearing.
It happened it once aswell on my Manix2 and it was severely stuck but it resolved the same way.
The dodo is a first gen well used that i bought second hand that is still litterally rock solid without even the slightest hint of play the manix was rather new, both had been lubed with random teflon oils.

[Bradley]

Mine is back stuck again, after a few regular openings and closes, and the spine tap method isn;t helping. It'll be @ usps tomorrow

[DougC-3]

My D'Allara Rescue is amazingly smooth, bought used and with no obvious lubricant, and I was counting on all the nude ball bearing locks being the same. We'll be waiting for the next exciting episode

[donutsrule]

Curious. I have a first-run blue, bought new and EDC'd for years. Also a black one that lurks in the kitchen "junk" drawer for opening stuff. Neither has stuck open.
I also have a newer orange model, but haven't carried it enough to make a definitve statement about that one. Hasn't stuck yet, though. :)