Two metal blades are the bill, and the blade blueprint is the one to learn first. It sits at the same Level 2 workbench as the sword and costs the same scrap, then keeps paying for the axe, the paddle and every salvaged weapon after. Unfolded, a longsword is just frags and 20 scrap, so once that blueprint is in, losing one stops hurting.
Before that, blades come from road barrels, and two of them is a lot to sink into one melee weapon. With a single blade in the box, craft a salvaged sword instead: it lasts longer and needs only a Level 1 bench.
And a broken longsword belongs in the recycler, not on the floor. It usually hands a blade back, which is half of the next one.
