crafting with higher tier produce (for exemple etched)

I think some opportunity is lost here. For exemple, we can use etched ingot to replace normal ingot in recipe but etched doesn't offer any additional bonuses, just an extra step. Why is the recipe of etched ingot not requiring something elses than 1 ingot to create. What is doing the etching? maybe it could require anothere material (inks maybe) which would allow us to have other bonuses applied when using etched ingots. Many other produce could be thus upgraded. I which any material requiring 2 or more of the same base material to create have more than the unique slot (like wraps has 2 strap slot) granting the capacity to change desired effects.