One thing i did notice too Butch is that with the repair skill on first level you will only get a partial repair on your weapons/armour etc so if nothing happened it could be because the equipment had more durability than you had skill to repair.
When it gets to the stage that you see the yellow anvil appear on your bottom tool bar, (warning that some gear needs to be repaired), try to use that ability then.
I only ever had level on but it came in very handy at certain stages of the game......don't want to give away tooooo much lol but a very handy skill.
Good luck
Axis
