William Duffield
Yes, hardened 1095 is a safe bet, and most of us value our time in making a tool much more than a $10 savings. While I have heard rumors of people building backsaws from drywall tools they picked up at the Borg, I have not heard subsequent reports of the durability of the sharpened teeth. While some manufacturers will use high quality steel for these definitely abrasive applications, the home centers know they also have customers whose only purchase criterion is price (and maybe color ), and so will also offer things that just look like tools. Even Marshalltown may have suffered quality degradation over the years. I would trust the steel in the masonry tools I got from my dad, who was a plasterer, but I have no long term test results on new tools.