Crafting Questions

[Abilge]

I wasn't sure if this was the right area to post this, but I must know more about crafting.

Does the max lock with your character level? Is creating Cultural armor worth the time? I'm a 31 Cleric still trapped wearing bronze and ring mail, which compared to everyone I group with, seems pathetic, I know.

So I want to create some brell armor which is either hopefully lighter or adds some str so I can avoid encumbrance when grabbing bronze and FS weapons to vendor.

As such there's much I need to know about crafting and the wiki isn't telling me this stuff very well.