"I'm sure this has been discussed before, but searches of the archives have
not turned up anything.  Assorted Galooterati have discussed cutting
scrapers, making scrapers out of saw blades, etc.  I wonder how you cut
them.  The advice I received this week was to just put the metal in a metal
vise and bend it back and forth until it snaps.  This sounds overly crude
and would result in bent metal."

It isn't all that difficult to do, but it is not just a quickie deal.  It requires a little thought and some effort.

Some of our hardier folk say that they just cut a scribe line on the  stock and break it off in the vise using a big hammer for persuasion.

I find it that I get a much nicer (read not bent) edge by using either a Dremel tool with the narrow cutoff wheel to cut part way into the metal along the line I want to break, or a die grinder with a larger cutoff wheel and just whack it off completely.

Dremel makes small thin cut off wheels that can be used to score the metal in a straight line. Then you put the metal in a vise and snap it off at the score line. You don't have to cut the metal all the way through. Though that is what I do now that I have a die grinder.

You can also scratch a straight line and then use a wide (sharp) cold  chisel to cut into the metal along that line. This will also allow you to snap it off in a vise. The metal will need to be on an anvil when you use the cold chisel on it.

You just have to make do with what you have to work with.

August 15, 2005
September 29, 2005