Blacksmith Questions – BODs, etc

[Varak]

I’m trying to figure out if the special items have any value or use in game from BOD’s. The sturdy shovel I assume is just a shovel with more charges? So you can save carrying a few shovels? Or is this purely a decorative item? Doesn’t seem to be much value there.  I assume the same with the sturdy pick axe? What about the prospectors axe?

 
The gargoyle’s pick axe – Does it actually promote the color of the ore? If so, do elementals actually spawn when using them? If so, I might need to get some fighting skill on my miner before equipping one of these...
 
The ancient hammer – Gives a bonus to smithing? If so how much? Sounds quite good actually. I would definitely do this BOD.
 
Basically, I’m trying to figure out if all BOD’s have value and are worth doing. It looks like I can just skip the first couple BOD’s as they don’t seem to get much in the way of a gift. Can someone please confirm?
 
Arms Lore – since a lot of these later concepts have crept into the Smithing world, does Arms Lore have any benefit or is it still worthless as it was in T2A? In the old days it was only worth having if you had a top shelf Hally, so you could delay a couple repairs here and there.