Suggestion: variations in sword making

Just an idea: instead of making an entire hilt from two ingots, how about: one ingot makes the pommel while another makes the guard, and - here's the cool bit: you can make different types of pommel and guard! You can then attach either one to a blade, to give lots of variation in the types of swords you can make, which lets you personalise your own sword to some extent.

The grip should really require wood and leather (to wrap around it), and I personally think there should be separate grips for one-handed and two-handed swords (no point having a separate grip for daggers).

That way, people can dye the leather (if dying leather is possible) to have different colour grips, as well as different shaped guards and pommels! You can have round pommels, and "fishtail" pommels, as well as straight and swept quillions, and you use those to make the hilt.

Then you simply make the blade, possibly with curved blades as an alternative, which you can combine with one handed grips to make a falchion, and two handed grips to make a scimitar.

You can even leave the pommel and guard off completely, and combine a two handed grip with a curved blade to get a katana!

I know it'd be long winded and cumbersome, but...you know, swords are complicated things, you can't knock one up in about an hour.

You could also apply a similar system to axes, maces, and polearms: flanged or spiked mace? Normal axe head or Danish axe? Halberd, bill, pollaxe, glaive or bardiche? Lots of possibilities!

The mechanical differences would be marginal, if any, but it'd allow for all sorts of customisation of weapons.