Is making weapons like shivering isles or better?

Better, you can upgrade them using different materials and there's an entire smithing skill that lets you create more types of armor. And you actually make it yourself instead of paying someone to do it.

Yeah I know but without the perks is it the same as shivering isles

To a certain degree, from what I've seen, you have to mine the ore yourself, then smelt it, then go over and smith it so its a little more involved than SI's smithing but its not drastically different.