I've been working on trying to make weapons and armors and such. A book that could be bought would be nice, if simply to say," hey, a beech wood pole can't be used to make a battle axe. "
I have tried finding people to help me learn which things to use to craft with iccly, and saddly, most of what I have learned has been through trial and error. Still haven;t figured out what is needed to make a spear or battle axe. Metal is obvious, but one would thing that the pole would be the other part to the equasion.
Finally figured out the two components for armors, after much irritation in trying to use the wrong ones and recieving no results. Even today, if you wanted to learn to make something, even old fashion bows or forging a weapon, you can buy a book which would tell you the basic nessicities for what you might need to start with, if nothing else. Ie., armor is made from this and this and here is a basic on how to do it.
Such would not garuntee sucess, nor the best equipment, but would give you a general idea of what to use. Leather pads, boiled leather pads, poles, bone, etc.
Maybe the smithy could sell a basic's 101, even if selecting the blacksmith's apprentice as a profession, unless it adds a journal entry which could be looked at by the pc to determine the basic's of crafting and such that one might already know from previous experiance as an apprentice. Perhaps a journal entry added from the selection in the conversation would be the easiest way to go as far as the crafting is concerned, might add a bit more realism?