Ok, I just found this topic and I'm new, etc. I've been crafting for a bit and this is what I've found to be consistently successful -

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/6...dsynthtips.png

I don't know if it works with Bold/Rapid Synthesis, or how much of an impact the gap between your rank and the item's rank will have. But standard synthesis with items equal or lower than my rank have come out quite fine.

Maybe it's old, I don't know. But I'll share it anyway just in case.