I reckon Freebird is onto it with the standard circular saw blades from an economy point of view. I have no idea if they would work as well as a blade designed for the job? If you use a decent HSS drill bit on a low speed and stop start the drill and use oil it should drill just fine. Same technique used for stainless. Laser cutting a blank is another great idea and like said, the main cost is getting the computer program. If you can do this yourself in the right file format you'll save some coin. We use "laser man" at work. An added advantage of cutting from stainless is the laser cut edge is somewhat hardened by the laser. You could always talk to a saw specialist and see what they suggest. I know a good saw place will be able to weld hardened tips onto your blade I think our local is around $1 per tip. Google up saw sharpening services.
