[How do I?] Would A2 tool steel made a decent scraper blade?

[G-ManBart]

Thanks for all the tips. I'm probably going to give it a try.

I don't have a forge, so I'm just going to use Oxy/Acetylene to get it red before letting it cool. That is, after I drill and tap it and do an initial grind for a radius.

It will take a very bright red to get it up to critical temp (which you can do with O/A). An easy test to see if it's hot enough is to check it with a magnet. It will be non-magnetic once it reaches critical temperature. If the magnet still pulls a bit, give it more time. You will be working with something fairly thin it seems, so you probably won't have to worry about soak times. For thicker stuff they specify something like 15 minutes at temperature for every .5" of thickness, etc, but for something less than half an inch I wouldn't even worry about it.

 

[pontiac428]

Air hardening is considered a more advanced material than water or oil quench in terms of strength, and results in a more uniform HT.

Any blade steel should work, I don't see why it needs to be much harder than 60 on the C scale. Cast iron starts at 35 Rc and hard iron plate tops out just above 50 Rc.

I'm certain my Rennsteig scraper is plain high carbon steel, nothing more. A lot of work can be done between sharpenings. I can drop my scraper from the second floor without the edge shattering. That's good for something.

 

[Rex Walters]

I can drop my scraper from the second floor without the edge shattering.

Note to self: avoid standing below John in the shop.