[Waltorious]

I do long-term planning and start my captain off with one of the crafting skills. Basically I want to get "Build It Better 3" and "Efficient Construction 3" (and even "Crafting Consultant 2") as fast as possible, and I'm willing to spread those skills out over multiple officers. Although note that More than one office with "Efficient Construction" won't stack, which is why it's nice to have the captain get an early start to get the higher levels of one of those.

For crafting, it's also important to disassemble extra equipment rather than selling it, as this will often increase the crew's base crafting skill. Finally had this explained in the manual! If there's a ^ next to the item on the salvage screen, it means it will increase your base crafting level if you salvage it. I was crafting some decent stuff by Sector 10 or so I think, but the really awesome stuff wasn't until I had the officer crafting skills maxed out, which takes longer. It also varies a lot depending on what it is; I had good luck making new space suits and sidearms, but it's a lot harder to craft a good engine and it's often possible to buy better ship weapons than you can craft until you get highly skilled.

Oh also be sure to take the first Tentaculon quest as it gives you a lot of crafting bits for free.