Tools, Sharpening and Power Machinery - old forged steel tools

recently i saw a man on this forum,{ i don't remember his name}. but anyway,who says old forged steel is stronger than todays steel, he says he forges his own tools i guess i am wondering what the difference is in the steel of the past and todays steel??? so if you are there or anyone having any input please write back.. thank you thirdeep..

I spent many summers back in the '50s working with my grandfather who was a bona-fide blacksmith. Since 1915 he made everything from A to Z in his shop and used a variety of metals and processes. None of the metals he had access to in that time period were as strong and/or as pure as what is available today.

Everything he made, either by eye, or with expensive tool dies, had to be repeatedly heated and hammered (forged) into shape. While that 'heat-n-hammer' process produced some handsome items that are still seeing service, that 'heat-n-hammer' process also made the items brittle and easily suspectible to oxidation and other eutectic based actions.

Todays metals are processed in inert gas atmospheres and are much stronger, very pure, and free of defects. I can remember that sometimes a piece of stock would pop and explode apart as my grandfather and I heated it because it had an air pocket or a defect in it. That doesn't happen with todays metals.

I agree with Nut-King.
How can the blacksmiths of old compare to todays' alloy formulations and high-pressure die forging.