The bottom one looks too pretty to be a wall hanger - maybe reconsider?
A lot of this is covered in the USFS and catalog references posted in the thread below. Some tooth types are designed more for softwoods, some for hardwoods. Although, I am sure that you will find guys who use the same saws for both. I am also sure that there are some differences between manufacturers, European and American saws, East and West coast, etc.
http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/crosscut-saw-manuals-references.210332/
During the height of their use, experienced saw filers would adjust tooth filing angles, set, etc., for specific wood and cutting conditions, just as some guys adjust the angles on their saw chain (makes sense, right?). Logging camps would touch up the teeth every day or two according to one of those logging books above.
The lone handle at the far right of your first photo is a Western style handle.
Disston, Simonds, and Atkins are among the better known saw brands here in the US. However, just because the handle says 'Disston', it does not mean that it came from that saw. Like putting a STIHL chain on a Husqvarna?
Better saws were taper ground: the metal is thinner at the top than down near the teeth, to provide added clearance. Some saws are a different thickness at the ends than in the middle (arc ground). Bucking saws are usually stiffer, and have a straight back. Felling saws are typically shorter in height, and have a curved back - this makes them lighter, easier to carry (saws were often pulled into an arc for transport on mules), and provides earlier clearance for wedges on a back cut.
I also have a few saws that I have accumulated, and want to try and make some into working saws. I spoke to one guy who sells them about his 'secret' rust removal methods - he would not share them, but clearly stated to
NOT use any type of power grinder, and
NOT to use Naval Jelly (?). He stated that you can never really rinse it cleanly off of a large saw like these, and it would stay in small pits, damaging the saw (?). I don't fully understand that, but will try some of the methods in my
Challenge Chain thread. I have also heard of steel wool, 600 grit wet-dry sandpaper used with paint thinner, and pumice being used from different sources. Collectable saws may have an manufacturer's name etched in the body of the blade that could get damaged by aggressive cleaning.
Philbert
