Smithing

You will need to speak to Mevreauche or Ghemp to advance in rank. He will request a test item. Trade it to him and he will grant you a new rank. You can take the test as soon as you acquire 8 skill points in your current ranking. (i.e. 8, 18, 28, 38, etc.)

Smithing materials are listed on the Auction House under the category Materials > Smithing . There are several NPCs in the Guild that will sell you certain materials for a reasonable price. There are five Smithing vendors in Vana'diel and they are open from 8:00 to 23:00. Watersday is the shop's weekly holiday.

Each guild has a Guildworker's Union Representative that will accept a certain item each day in exchange for "Guild Points". You may use these points to purchase special items and key item abilities. Speak to the Union Representative to sign a contract. You may only have a contract with one guild and signing a different contract will cause you to forfeit any guild points acquired from another guild. Additional points may be granted for high quality versions of the item. There is a limit to how many points you can acquire from a particular item.

The Guildworker's Union Representatives for the Smithing Guild are:

Lorena, Metalworks (F-7)
Macuillie, North San d'Oria (E-6)