You guys need to stop debating while I'm at work!
So, to go back to Sorel's speculation on what the Bronze Labrys will turn into... I think it would be great if that's what it was. Your example still has some tier 3 refinements.
Given the example we have with hempen doublets I expect it to be something more like 2 Bronze ingots, one ash lumber, one sheep leather/dodo leather, assuming they are trying to keep the parts in the same range as the finished item.
I think it was oscillate_wildly several pages back who commented that the example of the change is an extremely lazy fix. On the one hand, the crafting system is admittedly a huge mess, and it certainly would be easier to over simplify everything rather than to go through each individual item and fix things where they need to be fixed. Even if they intend to go back later and build the complexity up again, that leaves us with a period of time where crafting is even less engaging than it already is.
I am eagerly waiting or an official translation of Yoshi's vision for crafting, I love Reinhart's work but even he admits that his English is a bit rough, and it's difficult to glean the full meaning of the post.
I guess to sum up, I'd rather see them give crafting the complete overhaul it needs and I'd rather wait with what we have than have them cobble together some placeholder system.
I would like to see the parts be made into a more cohesive system, not scrapped entirely... even if it is just for the earlier stages of crafting... Though really, that's the moot point right there, because on all fronts what this game needs is a slower progression rate from 1-10. And really, from 1-20. It won't matter what they do for the rank 1-10 crafts because most people will just do 2-3 crafting leves and be at rank 9-10 and bypass all those recipes anyway.
But that is a debate for another thread.