Making a hide scaper.

 Find or cut a rectangle of steel. In this case I cut about a 5 x 1.5 inch piece from a ceramic cutting disc. Find a stick made of hard wood with a bend in the center. Cut two deep slits on both sides of the stick and hammer the steel into the slit. I cut small grooves on each side of the steel to wrap some wire around the stick and steel for extra security, but the groove in the ash wood is still tight and holds the steel snug for now. 

Dont cut through the wood as the more cutting you do, the weaker your wood becomes, and the scaper will fail on a good hard scrape stroke.

Make an abrupt bevel, like on the edge of a scissor on the scraper steel. Keep this dull. In fact, I had a drawknife I used to use for scraping until I needed a drawknife, which I never sharpened after scraping at least a thousand hides.