Awl or Nothing
Location
Required Items
Rewards
What the allowance actually buys
One allowance here buys 18,910 EXP, the best on the Lv 15 Blacksmith tradecraft rung — matched exactly by 1 other leve of the 6 there, with the rest trailing at 13,040 EXP or less.
Across that rung the return runs from 7,170 EXP to 18,910 EXP per allowance — 3 distinct figures spanning 164%, so the wrong pick leaves 11,740 EXP of the allowance unspent.
On whether to wait: the best Lv 20 Blacksmith tradecraft leve returns 21,600 EXP per allowance, 14% more than the best on this rung, while the Lv 10 rung behind tops out at 13,090 EXP.
At Lv 15 this data holds 52 leves paying EXP across 2 categories: the 48 Tradecraft ones average 16,554 EXP per allowance, the 4 Fieldcraft ones 78,432 EXP, which puts this leve 14% above its own category's average.
Gil ranks it differently: 236 gil per allowance is 3rd of 6 on the same rung against 1st on EXP, with the best there paying 283 gil.
Iron Awl ×1 is a Lv 19 Blacksmith recipe, 2 steps deep through 3 intermediates, costing 8 units of raw material and 5 crystals.
Handing that in returns 2,364 EXP and 30 gil for every unit of raw material the order swallows, and the tree needs Alchemist, Blacksmith and Carpenter.