I'm starting to get the handsaw plague myself. Obviously not to the tune some of you are, but finding that 1909 Simonds saw in my shops attic was a neat find. I could not help but notice it had an Apple handle. That did not surprise me as most handles "back in the day" were made of fruitwood. I sawed out some apple wood on the sawmill a few years ago, and actually sent a piece to a guy that was rebuilding a handsaw over on the Wood Forum. I never did here how it came out however.
Still your last post describes me Alan. My Uncle filed saws for awhile as a side business so that means I got the files, tools, and stuff to file my own saws, but was too afraid I would screw something up. In looking at the teeth though, they don't look any harder to do then filing a chainsaw, and I have got that down to a science.
My most interesting saw I think has got to be an old "misery whip" or two man crosscut saw used for felling large trees. The saw is certainly old as can be seen by the pitted steel and riveted handle holes. The wooden handles have long been rotted. But what is interesting is the teeth. The rakers are all snapped off. At first I thought maybe it hit a nail or something, but every raker has been snapped off, even the ones on the far end of the blade. Who ever did it, did so on purpose. I am sure it was to make it cut faster, but you would think the sawdust would collect in the cut without the rakers to "rake" it out?
Of course this is the Pine Tree State and back in those days they only cut hardwood for firewood. White Pine, Hemlock and Spruce were about the only woods harvested. Maybe that is why the rakers were removed?