If you actually read what I said, you will note that I do NOT say the channeler and the crafter could not be one and the same. I said that right off the bat. I only said that it does not strike me as LIKELY that your average channeler, either now or in the AoL, would also be a quality weaponsmith.

And people practicing "Archaic" hobbies is not beside the point. How do you think people got their swords and miscellaneous weaponry during the AoL? It sounds like they did still fight with swords and the like, and I doubt the common solider would be using anything made by channelers. Not to mention there's the matter of horse shoes and other metal crafts. The AoL was technologically more advanced, but clearly NOT in the manner in which WE are technologically advanced. I don't know why you think that everything would be molded metal as opposed to forged/shaped metal. There is absolutely NO indication that that was the case. If anything, retaining the use of bladed melee weapons indicates that there would still have been plenty of master weaponsmiths. Hell, we still have master weaponsmiths TODAY, and we don't even fight with swords any more!!