help making a toothed scraper

[stuckinthemud]

I am trying to make a toothed scraper from a scrap of hardened steel - I have tried a plaster-board saw, a machine hacksaw blade and an old hand-saw blade.  I am using hand-files as I do not have suitable power tools .  I feel like I'm doing things the hard way as my files are mostly skating off the hardened steels.  Should I be softening the steel before filing?  Can I do this off a cooker gas hob?

[KHalverson]

it will be much easier work if the steel is annealed (soft).
but after the file work is done you have to be able to harden again.
any means of heating the piece of steel to a dull red heat and then pack in dry sand  ,wood ash or dry kitty litter will help soften it up .
but then comes the quess work with an unknown steel type to reharden and temper.
there are all kinds of steel alloys used to make those kind of saw blades.
I prefer old saw steel from buzz rig blades or cross cut blades they were made from simpler alloy steels and harden and temper nice with home methods
Kevin

[dylanholderman]

you could also find a old panel saw and cut it up to make your scraper, once you're happy with the shape you can cut the teeth with a combination of hacksaw and saw-file. just make sure that you don't get a saw with the modern hard-point teeth.

a little bit long but here is a video on a similar topic (just remove the space) relevant information starts around 6:20-6:30 ish
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTqZTGPPRj0&t=1189s

[stuckinthemud]

Wow, that video is fantastic, I think I'm going to spend a lot of time watching that guy.  My files do not cut my steels like his saw file does, so I think first thing I need to try is the correct type of file.  That was the perfect masterclass though, so thanks for the link, much appreciated.

[HH~]

I found an old 1800's 9" saw blade. Like a hacksaw blade .150" and coarse teeth and that is just what I like. I use it when doing bamboo or wood lams.

HH~

[dylanholderman]

Wow, that video is fantastic, I think I'm going to spend a lot of time watching that guy.  My files do not cut my steels like his saw file does, so I think first thing I need to try is the correct type of file.  That was the perfect masterclass though, so thanks for the link, much appreciated.

glad it helped and yeah he has a lot of good content but his stuff can sometimes be a little bit intimidating because of how perfect his work is. another hand tool wood worker (or mostly at least) on YouTube is Rex Kruger, he covers a lot of the same type of stuff but his channel is geared specifically for the beginner and i find myself absorbing his content easier because of that.