Yeah, Mela is a freak at forging, it's insane the amount of time he has poured into it (over 400 hours he once said). 
As for weapons, it breaks down into two things, weapon tiers, and racial bonuses.
Weapon speed are organized into tiers (except for precision/wounding, which works on a linear scale). Weapon speed variance is noticeable every 5 points, with the breakpoint at every 5's and 0's, so you may notice a difference between a 165 and a 170 speed sword, but you won't notice between a 161 and 165. Also note that there are certain speed at certain level (dependent on your racial speed bonuses if you had any) where you will notice more drastic changes. For example, prior to the most recent speed changes, I was able to hit reliably once every 2.5 seconds with a 200 speed weapon, but the second I tempered it down to 199, I was getting 3.0 seconds constantly.
Such breakpoints are different for the races with balance bonuses and penalties, Mela has the info on normal, and +2/+3 balance I believe. Also note, it's impossible to hit faster than 2 seconds nowaday, regardless of your racial or weapon speed.
Weapon damage is a lot hard to break down because due to so many different variables that calculate damage (strength, weapon damage, armor, skill rank, resilience et.c). Also, after a certain breakpoint, the damage stat will matter more (~200 damage if I'm right).
As for weapons, it breaks down into two things, weapon tiers, and racial bonuses.
Weapon speed are organized into tiers (except for precision/wounding, which works on a linear scale). Weapon speed variance is noticeable every 5 points, with the breakpoint at every 5's and 0's, so you may notice a difference between a 165 and a 170 speed sword, but you won't notice between a 161 and 165. Also note that there are certain speed at certain level (dependent on your racial speed bonuses if you had any) where you will notice more drastic changes. For example, prior to the most recent speed changes, I was able to hit reliably once every 2.5 seconds with a 200 speed weapon, but the second I tempered it down to 199, I was getting 3.0 seconds constantly.
Such breakpoints are different for the races with balance bonuses and penalties, Mela has the info on normal, and +2/+3 balance I believe. Also note, it's impossible to hit faster than 2 seconds nowaday, regardless of your racial or weapon speed.
Weapon damage is a lot hard to break down because due to so many different variables that calculate damage (strength, weapon damage, armor, skill rank, resilience et.c). Also, after a certain breakpoint, the damage stat will matter more (~200 damage if I'm right).
