In the counts advice to new knife makers V35 he suggests that the most economical steels to use, if only sending one or two out for treatment, are 154cm, CPM 154, S35VN and Elmax.
I believe this advice stems from Texas Knife Supply's HT service being the cheapest advertised service for 1 or 2 blades (under 10") however they are limited to air quenching steels only. I do not know if they do AEB-L but according to Alpha Knife Supply's info page (great resource) it can be oil, plate or air quenched . As a material it is significantly cheaper than any of those you listed. It is about the same price or cheaper than 440C.
I asked a similar question on another forum, that is a little more technical, concerning working 5160 by hand compared to other steels and here is a snippet of the answer given to me by our own in house Guru-Mod, Stacy...
"Let's take a look at what happens when you file steel. The hardened teeth have a sharp and toothy edge. These edges will be in the Rockwell 65-70 area....sometimes even higher. However, they are also fairly brittle. If the steel is annealed and soft, the file is much harder, and the teeth bite into the soft steel. The steel pulls apart along the grain boundaries, and tiny pieces tear out...called filings. If the stroke is done well, and the steel is right, the filing that comes out is a thin thread of steel. If the steel is harder, or the file is dulled, the piece comes off as a smaller chip. If there is more than .84% carbon, or any carbide forming alloy ingredients, we have to deal with hard carbides. These carbides are harder than the file....and like to hang out along the grain boundaries...right where the file is trying to do its work. Now, if we condition the steel by spheroid annealing it ( spheroidizing), the carbides get balled up in little bundles, and these pull out fairly easy. If the steel is un-annealed, or there are too many carbides, or the steel is complex to anneal, then we are dealing with things that are like microscopic spiked mace balls....and they will tear up your file teeth. Since the carbides are equal to or harder than the file , and the file is brittle, the edge of the file tooth will start microscopically chipping....making the file dull and less effective at removing steel. It will also greatly increase the amount of pressure from your hand needed to make the file cut. That is why I said some steels are not tool or hand friendly to hand file.
Now, let's look at steels to hand file in order of ease.
Simple carbon steels with .84% carbon or less are the easiest - 1060,1075, 1080,1084.
Similar carbon content steels with moderate alloy content are next - 5160, 9260
Hyper-eutectoid steels with no or low alloy content - 1095, W1/2, O-1, A-2
CPM steels have the metal balled up in tiny particles are fairly hand friendly - CPM-154
Basic stainless steel is OK, too - 440C, ATS-34/154CM
Complex, high alloy, stainless and hyper-eutectoid steels are going to be the worst to hand file - 3V, S90V, etc."
Hope this helps. Good luck.
