[SwordMage]

1. There is another school of thought that says: max out your problem solving skill so you have a better chance to clear a complication in one step.
2. I just use 3 tool belts and, as was mentioned below, spend the 5 APs to switch when needed. Until you are sure of what you are doing, we recommend leaving your character sheet up and the 3 belts open so you can see which one is active and where the tools are (after a while, you won't need the crutch any more, but it is handy at the start). Also, if you haven't get all of the 8 tools you can use, hey, their cheap.
3. Yes, they are supposed to be that severe and there are plenty of threads bemoaning that fact. The system is set up so that, until you are a few levels higher than the recipe, you are hard pressed to achieve A quality; also, I don't know if it is just me, but I seem to have more problems getting good quality on refining recipes than on finishing ones.
4. As was said set Mineralogy to '-' for Carpentry, there are only enough points to max two with none left over.
5. Deciding when to cure is an art. For instance, I don't cure very low AP penalties and I sometimes ignore station, tool, or utility penalties unless I am about to work on them or they were in the previous step in a multi-step stage; quality penalties are also easy to ignore if it is still at 0.
6. Even if you don't sell anything, you should be making a small, but steady income from work orders. Batch work orders provide the best loot if you complete all 5 items; I wouldn't bother with single item work orders unless you are grinding for faction or to get to that next level faster (more XP per combine).