and it being handcrafted by a master blacksmith. I don't know how much you know about sword crafting, but it's not just banging it into shape and sticking a piece of wood on the end.

What do you think Rand or Egwene really KNOW about weapon making? Or metal in general? Nothing. I'm sure they could shape a sword, but would it be a GOOD sword? unlikely. The understanding a swordsman has of a sword is entirely different than a weaponsmith's. It's like the difference between an athlete and a doctor.

As I said, I'm sure it could be done, but the channeler would also need to be a master blacksmith/weaponsmith. Otherwise you'd end up with a poor quality weapon that just didn't happen to lose its edge or rust, and was a more effective against the various Dark creatures. But it would pale in comparison to Perrin's Hammer.

And there is absolutely no reason to think that there wouldn't be blacksmiths and weaponsmiths in AoL. Even in our world today, the best swords are hand made, and there will always be hobbyists even when a profession is not "necessary". Hell, even farriers still are taught to make their own horseshoes and some do so on occasion for the hell of it, despite the fact you can buy them in bulk in multiple sizes.