Thanks for the info. I am by no means an expert in metals but now can see that I need a steel that has a higher carbon content. As I would like to try and tackle this job myself using only hand tools, I like the idea of a hacksaw blade. I may be able to track down a blade from a reciprocating saw which is large enough to make the part from.
Failing that, I can certainly find a circular saw blade which is large enough. My concern with this would be getting the thickness correct since it would have to be thinned quite a bit and I only have files to do so.
I will post back once I find some blades. I'm sure I will need some hand-holding for the heat treatment...
