A couple of notes about scrapers, as used in Luthier work:
Be careful about over-using a scraper. That is, using lots of strokes to take off a substantial amount of wood. Because a scraper is only a single tooth, it will follow the contour, and even exaggerate it. As it goes over a notch or a low spot, it will dig deeper in the spot than on the surface. If you are trying to scrape some tool marks (grooves) and you aren't careful, you can make them deeper and deeper the more you scrape. The right technique is to hold the scraper at an angle in relation to the grooves, so it spans over the groove, rather than dropping into it. Same thing trying to scrape off a shallow dip. You're more likely to make it deeper.
That's why I like files for removing wood and leaving a flat surface. A file is a hundred little mini-scrapers, all rigidly aligned into a flat plane. They have to all shave the top surface. They can't drop into the grooves.
A scraper is really good for the final passes, removing small sanding scratches and fine marks from a fine file. Just a stroke or two brings the wood surface up to almost a polish.
Contrary to standard Cabinet Maker technique, I prefer to make my own wood scrapers from softer annealed metal. I usually use O-1 Tool Steel bar stock, leaving it unhardened, in annealed form as it comes through. Or common 304 Stainless, also unhardened. Classic Cabinet Scrapers are made from Tool Steel hardened up to certain level. The harder steel can be formed and burnished up to a very tiny lip that can cut beautifully. But it's a lot of work to get that lip shaped and polished.
Using the softer annealed metal, the cutting lip is larger, but it's much easier to form it and burnish it. It only takes a minute to touch up the edge when it gets dull. I have a whole collection of special scrapers that I've made to any shape I need, big curves to tiny detailers.
Making and sharpening scrapers is a whole subject in itself.
