That's how it worked for me too, curious.
Maybe in G4 they will have a nice setup as in Dark Messiah, to make the Ore nuggets into a bar, then working the furnace heating the Ore, pouring and cooling, then heating the Billlet and hammering, finally making a Hilt.
True - one of the coolest things in the game, and naturally completely underutilized ...Maybe in G4 they will have a nice setup as in Dark Messiah,