OK, to prevent confusion, my point was:
1. most old swords are made of inferior materials compared to what industrial steel manufacturing produces. (Keeping in mind that modern sword makers can still use different grades of steel forged together)
2. some of the best old swords are better, due to them using better steel and processing it correctly. It is believed that this art was lost because the smiths themselves did not know all factors involved. It required a special trace elements in the ore, impossible to easily distinguish from worse ore with the techniques available at the time. As ore supplies were depleted, the techniques became less useful and were abandoned by most people.
3. the trick to make those superior steels again was rediscovered recently, and a reasonably good processing technique found by trial and error. It is not likely to be used often because, just like the old method, the modern replication is incredibly labour-intensive and requires considerable skill.
For balancing and manufacturing quality, well, I guess most modern manufacturers are just cutting corners, or making swords for decorative purposes only. There may even be legal obstacles in some countries for some weapons (for example, a prohibition on knives that are balanced for throwing).
Stainless steel in swords? It has an advantage for maintenance, but it is always a compromise between mechanical quality and corrosion resistance.
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