Quote Originally Posted by mAIOR
Actually, swords are better that way. An outer layer of hardened iron/steel and an inside of soft iron.
Actually, the outer layers (2 of them) of Iberian swords were not steel, but iron.
The same method (with softer metal in the middle) was also used in later swords, like Japanese samurai swords, but due to the hard layers being steel of various quality, the final result was better. Basically, there were several choices for a blacksmith: either make the outer layer(s) tougher, in which case it would be harder to break, but easier to dull, lose its sharpness, or make it softer, so it would retain it's edge, but be easier to bend or break when meeting a hard object (such as armor)