Nice job, R.
I've been down this road myself, so can I chip my 2p?
I used gauge plate for mine, not so that I could harden it, but more in the hope that it would stay flat.
The problem with Mild Steel is that it is so very easy to bend it when you are cutting it, and a RK that is bent is useless, and, dare I say it, probably more dangerous than not using one at all (that is not an encouragement to use TS without one!). It has to be flat.
(I did film the making of one when I did my TS DVDs, but there was a fault with the camera, the footage was unusable and I had to be out by next week, so no time to re-do it. Maybe I should revisit the subject.)
It's not that you can't accidentally bend gauge plate, but I do think it is more suitable than ordinary MS.
I'm still using that same RK today. I can cut rebates, for example, without removing it completely, and because I don't rely on the RK to mount the guard, I can do non-standard cuts like that without exposing myself to a naked blade.
I would rec that anyone who wants to do this sort of thing to take great care to ensure that the RK is flat (so that you don't have fight when the workpiece reaches the RK) and that you fit an overhead guard which gives at least as much protection as the original RK-mounted guard did.
Best wishes, decadigit Steve.