Noisy Dodo

[Django]

Hi guys, I love my Dodo, blue PE. It is a great cutter and has a great grip. I noticed VERY slight side-side blade play, so I went to tighten up the pivot. I experimented with different settings, and after a little bit, I noticed the knife had a literally choppy opening. It would go about a 1/4 of an inch and the stop, etc, etc, until it was open. It did this even with the pivot screw really loose. I decided to take the knife apart. (BTW, when I first got my Dodo, it made no sound at all, you could hear the little clicking of the ball sliding onto the tang when you first open the knife)

I cleaned everything, and put a little grease in between the blade and washers, wrote with pencil on the back of the tang where the ball rides, and put it back together. The choppy action was gone, but the knife makes this sort of gritty, sliding (hard to describe) sound when I open it. Pretend the closed knife sitting spine down on a table. The knife makes the noise when the blade is opened at about 20* and at about 90* open.

I think the noise is caused by the blade rubbing against the G-10, as it only makes the noise when I open with my thumb one handedly and not with a thumb and finger two-handedly. It still makes the noise two-handedly at 90*, but not at 20*.

If anyone has some tips on how to stop this and restore the Dodo back to its original, quiet state, please share them :(

[brainus]

Mine makes that sound too. It probably needs to be loosened on one side of the pivot.

My Dodo makes me a bit sad, with the failing lock and the G10 scratching.

[Django]

This is my only problem with the Dodo, and just like you, it does make me a bit sad :(

[dedguy]

sounds like maybe you have worn down the washers a bit? maybe some thicker washers would remedy the problem?

[Django]

No, I don't think it has anything to do with the washers. I got the knife like last week :p

[smcfalls13]

Do you have washers?

When I went for a week without washers in mine, it made that same sound. You may not have any washers in there. Especially considering you had blade play out of the box.

While it does void your warranty, you may want to open it up and check.

[Django]

:p Did you read my whole post Scott?

Anyways, yes, there are washers in it, I put it back together starting with one slab of G-10, washer, blade, washer, G-10.

I'm positive there are washers in the knife.

Also, I think the bladeplay is caused by one of the G-10 slabs not being tight against the spacer. There is a small gap in between the blade and G-10 on the left side when the knife is open.

[dedguy]

well you obviously have spacing issues. so something in the "dodo sandwich" is not the correct thickness. being as new as it is i'd contact Spyderco about possible replacment.

[Django]

That space was there when I got it. The whole reason I disassembled the Dodo in the first place was because of the choppy action after I had adjusted the pivot. After fixing the choppy action, it now makes the noise.

[yablanowitz]

It sounds hopeless to me. I guess you and brainus are just going to have to send them to me for a proper burial :D
Kidding aside, I have never handled a Dodo, but I have one on order, so maybe when it gets here I can make a more informed wild guess :D

[smcfalls13]

:p Did you read my whole post Scott?


D'OH :eek:

Scratch that theory then :p

Tighten the two sets of screws on either side of the backspacer, while leaving your pivot loose, then tighten the pivot to the desired tension, you may need to adjust the forward set of screws on the backspacer to keep it from getting too tight.

I think you're right, my revised theory is in agreement with yours that somethings off between the G-10 and backspacer.

I had all sorts of fun problems when I first disassembled the Dodo, they've since worked themselves out though.

[Django]

The only problem is that the screws that are screwed into the backspacer are as tight as they can be. I'm going to try taking it apart and cleaning it all again, and hope that helps.

[smcfalls13]

The only problem is that the screws that are screwed into the backspacer are as tight as they can be. I'm going to try taking it apart and cleaning it all again, and hope that helps.

They're tight and you still have a gap? There's something wrong there, and I don't think it's anything you did.

I don't know. :confused:

[Django]

Yeah. They're fully tightened. I just took the knife apart again, cleaned everything, greased the washers, etc. I noticed that after I adjust the pivot to a level where there is no blade play, and the sound disappears, it goes right back to making the noise after one or two opening/closings.

I'm going to take a pic of the gap so you can see what it looks like. I got three of the backspacer screws out but one is too tight and I could not get it out without stripping it.


Here is the crappy picture due to lack of daylight: (the gap is very small, on the left side)

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/608/cimg19729mz.jpg

[Harry White]

I'm not sure if it's really a problem. My Dodo act in a similar fashion. It has a "jerky" movement when I try to open it slowly with one finger. There is also a very slight "scraping" noise while opening. However, I found this lessened over time (but did not completely disappear). When I flick it open or closed, it seems fine. It only becomes noticeable when I open it slowly (which is rare -- I like to flick it open).

The blade and lockup are rock solid. The slight rubbing sound used to bother me a little, but since nothing feels wrong about the lockup or blade play, I've accepted it as a "personality trait" of my Dodo and now I rarely even notice it.

I would love to hear whether these slight jerky movements and rubbing sounds are natural for the Dodo, or if they really do represent a problem that should be fixed.

EDIT: I didn't see your pic before I posted. After looking at my Dodo, it appears to have the same very small gap on the same side as yours, as shown in the photo. Fellow Dodoers -- do you have this gap? To be honest, I didn't even notice it before your pic was posted. Thanks.

[Django]

That's a good way to think about it. I guess I'll just have to get used to it and eventually forget about it :cool:

But I still want to figure out that gap, I think it is causing a little side-to-side play.

[smcfalls13]

If you're anything like me, it's still gonna bother you, even if we tell you it's perfectly normal :p

Hope you can figure it out, because that would drive me nuts... :eek:

[spydutch]

EDIT: I didn't see your pic before I posted. After looking at my Dodo, it appears to have the same very small gap on the same side as yours, as shown in the photo. Fellow Dodoers -- do you have this gap? To be honest, I didn't even notice it before your pic was posted. Thanks.

Same with mine.

Sorry for the blurry pic (my mobile has it's limitations :o )

My blue Dodo is exactly the same.

Both lock up fine though.




Arend.

[Django]

Yes Scott, it still does bother me :rolleyes:

Glad to hear that the gap is normal, or at least that I'm not the only one with it. I guess I'll just tighten the pivot a little more. What have you guys found to be the best way to adjust the pivot? Loosen the screw and bushing, and screw one in before the other? At the same time?

[Django]

Sorry for the double post, but I wanted to bump the thread because I've fixed my Dodo!!

When I was taking my knife apart, I noticed some light scuff marks on the G-10. I took some 1000 grit sand paper and smoothed out those areas (Note: Wet the handles first to minimize the amount of G-10 dust you put in the air). After putting the knife back together and adjusting the pivot to the right tightness, the scraping, scruffing noise was gone.

There is still a little side-to-side play which I could probably fix if I tightened it up a little. I like being able to flick the knife closed though, so I left it just loose enough so I could do it.

[Harry White]

Very interesting django -- thanks for posting your solution. I may try that on mine -- that sounds like exactly what is happening with my dodo.

[dedguy]

i JUST got my Dodo and i did notice the rubbing noise when opening it... then i loosened my grip on the handle. in my case it seemed to be cause by the flexing of the G-10 towards the blade. i don't have the gap on mine though.

[smcfalls13]

Mine's been sitting in pieces for a while, but I just reassembled it to see if I have the gap we're talking about, and I don't have it, mines perfect.

Mines been completely disassembled, thoroughly cleaned(even the screws) and refitted with new washers, so it's glassy smooth now(a little too smooth, might need to tighten the pivot a little) and it's silent on opening.

I also had a problem where the plunger(don't know what else to call it) that pushes the lock would get hung up on the recess in the G-10, so it clicked on closing, I rounded the back end of it, and now it's smooth closing as well.

Dodos are fun to play with :cool:

[Django]

And frustrating at the same time :cool:

I think I could probably eliminate the gap if I could get the back spacer out. The left rear torx screw is REALLY tight and I cannot get it out.

I thought the gap was normal on Dodo's, but I guess not :(

Also, Dedguy, I think the Dodo makes the noise no matter what when you press the G-10 towards the blade. In my case, it was making the noise all the time and not just when I was squeezing hard.

[yablanowitz]

Just a thought, but that overtorqued screw is probably the cause of the gap. It sounds to me like it was fully tightened first, and has warped the scale. If you can't get it loose with all the other screws removed, I don't know what to tell you (still waiting on mine :( )

[smcfalls13]

The left rear torx screw is REALLY tight and I cannot get it out.


The small screws are loctited from the factory I think, so try heating the screw up to get it out.

[zeus]

I had the scraping problem as well. I did all you mentioned in your post re: cleaning, lubing, reassemble, etc...

The way I fixed mine was to polish the areas inside the G-10 that contact the blade. Totally slient afterwards.

After I fixed that, I did go on to replace the washers with phosphor bronze units that I lapped very thin. ( I also modified the dual spring ball lock setup, but won't go into details ). I polished the heel of the tang where it contacts the ball bearing just for good measure.

My Dodo will now flick open without touching the lock or Spyderhole and the blade will drop closed under its own weight with the ball retracted, no flick required to close. Truly a one-hander.

[smcfalls13]

After I fixed that, I did go on to replace the washers with phosphor bronze units that I lapped very thin. ( I also modified the dual spring ball lock setup, but won't go into details ). I polished the heel of the tang where it contacts the ball bearing just for good measure.

My Dodo will now flick open without touching the lock or Spyderhole and the blade will drop closed under its own weight with the ball retracted, no flick required to close. Truly a one-hander.

Have you been reading my mind ;)

You just described the exact process I put mine through :p

Works doesn't it? :cool:

[zeus]

Yeah, you beat me to the punch. I was writing my post and it ended up being pushed down the list during the editing....

I forgot to mention that I removed the the ball/plunger and springs and reassembled the knife to eliminate those pieces as a source of the scraping sound. That's how I determined it was the G-10 on the blade.

I went thru the polishing process and phosphor bronze upgrade with my Military as well, even though it had no noise. :)

[Edd-UK]

humm

i got a 2nd hand dodo a while back and i was making alsort of scraping noise. when i took it apart to clean it the was sand every where but only one washer. is this normal?? after cleaning and oiling it seems fine and the noise has stoped for the time being.