Whats the point of getting recipesFollow

Not all recipes are known. The only way to find them out is 1) experimentation or 2) leves.

SE said they will be added to a recipe book that they are in the process of implementing.

Just because you can put in a bunch of ingredients and get it to give you an item to choose doesn't mean you can successfully craft an item at all. Don't believe me? Try making an Iron Alembic at your rank. :) Assuming the game even lets you try, you'll fail it pretty fast if you're more than 7 or 8 ranks lower.

As for tools, and any kind of gear, you absolutely must pay attention to the "optimal rank" on the item. Just because you can equip an R38 item, doesn't mean you can use it effectively. If the item's optimal rank is more than about 5 ranks higher than your current rank you actually take a huge, huge hit to your effective stats. Don't think you can get the R22 hammer at R12 and assume that the bigger numbers will help you. This said, when you get really close to the optimal rank (say, R20 or so), upgrading your tool becomes a huge boost. You do want to upgrade your crafting clothes and tools when you get rank-appropriate upgrades available.

tl;dr: You did the right thing upgrading your tool, you just did it too soon. Get a rank-appropriate tool or wait out on your old tool until you get closer in rank to the new shiny tool you got. You won't regret it.