Is ball-lock failure common?

JediKnight86 · #1

I have had a few ball-lock knives, a couple Dodo's and a D'allara. I never noticed the lock failing before. Now I have a Dodo again and I can easily push the blade closed without disengaging the ball. Send it in?

spoonrobot · #2

I'd send it in. See if they can do anything for you. Make sure you ship with insurance.

But first; take a picture of the tang for us. Like this:

cyberspyder · #3

Mine was like that too, the worst part was that it was happening some of the time. When I sent it in, W&R said they couldn't get it to fail, but I could for some reason...

Jay_Ev · #4

Although sending it in is usually the recommended thing to do, send it in with the awareness that if it is indeed faulty and can not be repaired, most likely Spyderco will keep it & issue you a credit.

Jay_Ev · #5

spoonrobot:

:eek: :eek: :eek:

I assume you are a fan of the Dodo?!?!

spoonrobot · #6

Jay_Ev wrote:Although sending it in is usually the recommended thing to do, send it in with the awareness that if it is indeed faulty and can not be repaired, most likely Spyderco will keep it & issue you a credit.

I didn't know that, have to remember that for the future. Is the credit issued on the MSRP price?

Extinct flightless fowl tend to multiply when left alone. That's all I'm sayin'.

:p

Mr.Sparkitle · #7

I would definitely send it in to W&R. They may be able to fix it and send it back to you. I sent my E4W in and the did a great job. Can you see why the lock is failing, is the spring not pushing the ball up or is the ball not engaging the knife tang?

Jay_Ev · #8

spoonrobot wrote:I didn't know that, have to remember that for the future. Is the credit issued on the MSRP price?
:p

I'm not exactly sure on that one but I do know that they can't send you a brand new Dodo because they don't make it anymore :)

Mr.Sparkitle · #9

^ They will just have to do a run in orange then.

The Deacon · #10

Not common, but not unheard of. I recall that many of the problems with ball locks have been caused by gunk in the spring. If you have not already done so, a good thorough cleaning might be worth a try.

Warranty info page says that for defective knives no longer in production the credit is based on the MSRP in the final year of production. Do note that it is only good at SFO.

moeman · #11

When i had my Dodo it had lockup issues, but they were able to fix it no problem.

Franco G · #12

This is very disappointing. After learning (from Forums) that ParaMillie with compression lock develops a blade play after some use, i was hoping that a ball lock would bring reliability.

I think Spyderco should make clear statements about reliability of new locks.

Franco

Spydiman · #13

Franco G wrote:This is very disappointing. After learning (from Forums) that ParaMillie with compression lock develops a blade play after some use, i was hoping that a ball lock would bring reliability.
Franco

IIRC, the only knife that had ball lock problems was the first run of Dodo. Again IIRC, the Dodo was the first Spyderco to use the lock. After the first run, I was under the impression that Spyderco slightly altered the design, correcting the problem.

Franco G wrote:I think Spyderco should make clear statements about reliability of new locks.

And what should that statement be?

carrot · #14

After the first run of the Dodo, the problems with the ball lock were apparently fixed. So yours must be from the first run. I have heard of people sending in their Dodos and getting them fixed at W&R so don't lose hope! Give them a letter that, if they can't repair it you'd like it back anyways.

StangBang · #15

Anyone had any ball lock failure with the Poliwog? I haven't had any with mine so far but I guess it is always possible!

amen74 · #16

Never had any issues with my Dodos. They lockup tight and stay that way.
I'd give W&R a shot. I've only heard good things about the department.

JediKnight86 · #17

Just got another blue Dodo in a trade. This one locks up solid and I can clearly see the contact point on the tang is much wider than my other one. I'm worried it cannot be corrected and Spyderco will repo the knife if I send it.

cyberspyder · #18

Let me clarify this. If you keep the ball clean and lubed, and the contact area with the blade clean and lubed you won't have any lockup problems...the main concern is the lint and crap that gets accumulated, thus preventing metal on metal contact.

JediKnight86 · #19

cyberspyder wrote:Let me clarify this. If you keep the ball clean and lubed, and the contact area with the blade clean and lubed you won't have any lockup problems...the main concern is the lint and crap that gets accumulated, thus preventing metal on metal contact.

You might be right. I didn't see anything at first, but there was a very small amount of lint on the tang. I took a toothbrush to it and it seems to lock up fine now. Why didn't I try that sooner?

cyberspyder · #20

JediKnight86 wrote:You might be right. I didn't see anything at first, but there was a very small amount of lint on the tang. I took a toothbrush to it and it seems to lock up fine now. Why didn't I try that sooner?

I got that from another Dodo user IIRC...apparently the extra friction caused by the metal contact locks the BB in place, whereas (I assume) the frictional coefficient between metal and lint is lower, thus allowing it to 'slip'.

Brendan