My D4 Disston Back Saw

[lowell holmes]

My shop was inundated by the Harvey flood (Galveston County Texas). I was just out in it today and picked up one of my backsaws.

It is a Disston D-4. The saw plate has grunge on it that I will never be able to make go away. It has a sound handle and needs to be
re-finished. It is 14 tpi filed crosscut, sharp with fine uniform set, but not pretty. I put a scrap of quarter round in a bench hook and
sawed an inch off the end and it cut smoothly, quickly and left a smooth end.
I do not remember setting or sharpening the saw. If I set it, it would have been a screwdriver set. If you have never done a screwdriver
set, you should learn to do it. I have Lie Nielsen back saws, but the old D4 is equal to them. If you run across a D4, pick it up. You will not
be disappointed, it just feels right when you use it. It has mass to it and tracks true.
OBTW, sand paper, steel wool, and Johnson's floor wax does a good job of de-rusting but will leave grunge.

[Jerry Olexa]

If convenient, show us a picture or two.

[lowell holmes]

I'm like my old dog that lays around in the floor and sometimes seems to not know where he is. If I can remember how to attach the picture I will.
I miss-spoke, the saw is a D12'

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[steven c newman]

Have a bunch of them...from the 14" I use as a joinery saw...up to this fellow..
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6" x 30", 11 ppi cross cut.
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Got put to work, today....Langdon 75.

[Jerry Olexa]

I'm like my old dog that lays around in the floor and sometimes seems to not know where he is. If I can remember how to attach the picture I will.
I miss-spoke, the saw is a D12'

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Yes, I understand..Often, I'm like that old dog too....
Thanks for the picture...you did a good job restoring.
How do you clean, restore the blade? Always the etch risk/danger?

[Jim Koepke]

Yes, I understand..Often, I'm like that old dog too....

Same here, walk into a room and have to make three circles before remembering what brought me to the room in the first place.

At least it gives the wife a chuckle.

jtk

[lowell holmes]

Yes, I understand..Often, I'm like that old dog too....
Thanks for the picture...you did a good job restoring.
How do you clean, restore the blade? Always the etch risk/danger?
I used 240 sandpaper to start, then steel wool, followed by Johnson floor wax. I keep a can of Johnson's wax.

I can read the etch on the saw.

[Matthew Hutchinson477]

387394 387395 387396

The forgetfulness thing is common to our species apparently. I kept forgetting to upload these pics of my most recent saw restofabrication that happens to be a D4. I was looking for a backsaw with a 16" blade for quite a while to have something for sawing larger tenons. Finally sucked it up and forked out $30 plus shipping for this one. Took me a while to get it into shape since the spine was actually bent a little (risks of purchasing tools on that one auction site) and I decided to cut new teeth. But now, freshly-sharpened it cuts about as well as my Veritas dovetail saw. Can't compare it to a Lie-Nielsen but I bet it would be in the ballpark. I certainly don't feel under-tooled by having old Disstons like this instead of high-end new saws. Plus, this saw has something you'll be hard-pressed to find anywhere these days--curly apple wood! It was difficult to resist the temptation to sand this handle all the way down and see how well I could make the figure come out.

[Bill Houghton]

The Disstonian Institute lists all kinds of No. 4 backsaws. Is the D4 a particular variant of those?

Bill, lots of No. 4 saws in the shop, but not aware of any D4s

[Matthew Hutchinson477]

Bill,
I think we-myself, at least-mistakenly typed D4 instead of No. 4. My saws and all the other Disston hacksaws I’ve seen in these sizes are No. 4’s. I’m unaware of the existence of a D4 as a matter of fact. Guess I just got used to associating any Disston saw model with a letter D followed by a number.

[Pete Taran]

It is indeed #4, standard backsaw with blued back. There was also a #5 which was identical except for solid brass back, and a #7 which had a polished steel back.

[Bill Houghton]

It is indeed #4, standard backsaw with blued back. There was also a #5 which was identical except for solid brass back, and a #7 which had a polished steel back.
I have never seen a No. 5 in the wild, and doubt I've seen a No. 7. But my saws tend to come with extra rust at no extra charge, so I suppose one of them could be a No. 7.

[lowell holmes]

I want one:)