Detlef, I'm guessing that your disappointment is rooted in the fact that this tool was not made from material that has been folded and forge welded?
Personally, this would not disappoint me.
Working tools are normally made from the best material available. In Central Jawa working tools were being made from railway line and other material sourced from outside the country from at least the second half of the 19th century.
Where a tool or a weapon --- and a weapon is simply a tool with a specific purpose --- is produced for some cultural purpose, such as is the keris at the present time, we can expect to see traditional forge techniques of forge welding, pattern welding and so on put into practice, but where a tool or a weapon is produced for actual use as a tool or weapon, the smith will use, and his client will choose, the best material available. In the areas of SE Asia that I am familiar with this means spring steel or some other modern type of steel that can be properly heat treated to hold a working edge.
I believe you have purchased a tool that is correct for the time and place where it was made. I do not see this as a reason for disappointment, particularly in view of what you have said about the price you paid.
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