with regards to the angle of the discs, larger agricultural sets of a modern design are adjustable for different tasks, the sharper the angle the more aggressive the action, this is caused by the vibrating action of the discs, faster you go the better they work, this is for gaining a fine tilth. Setting the discs to no angle so they are straight is used for primary cultivations to chop fibrous matter up. Reversing the angle of the discs on a smaller set you can use them as a very basic bed former to throw soil into ridges, on dual sets you have the front set pointing forward and the rear set pointing backwards, this means the front set throws the soil out and the rear set pulls it back in resulting in a level fine seed bed.