I went into this gift shop last week, and they happened to have this display stand of blades. The damned things were balanced about four inches forward of the hilt. I swear, Americans don't deserve to make swords.

there are a few quite proficient sword smiths in america, at least i was told by an expert. the exact number and names i don't know, but this link might help you:

http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/sitemap.htm