Currently crafting only has 2 valid ways to level up, this being uncuts and hides.
However, when we take a look at the experience the hides grant compared to the uncuts, it's safe to say that there's an unbalance. This unbalance makes the hide basically dead content, no one buys them or uses them so no one picks them up.
The following exp rates consider the fact you cut the uncuts twice.
So as we can see the exp black dragonhides grant (which require level 79 crafting) is even lower than an uncut emerald (requires level 27 crafting).
My suggestion is to buff the exp rates to something similar to the following:
This in combination with for each additional hide you use in the process (when crafting chaps or bodies) you will get another 5% experience. I feel this is necessary because it will give people another choice what to do when crafting hides, and having the possibility to gain more experience when actually leveling up and choosing to craft higher level items.
Any opinions?