Do the mods on the item used in the recipe persist?
No, and this is a very common misconception. Any mods on the item you use to make the Crafted Item are erased and replaced. So don’t expect to Craft Blood Weapon #1 with a Cruel Gothic Axe, and keep the 300% damage on it and add the 35-60% damage from the Blood recipe. It makes no difference at all what the mods on the item you use in the recipe are. This includes random spell mods, such as bonuses to skills on wands, staves, scepters, as well as all the class-specific stuff. All of these will be re-rolled, so you might get better bonus skills or worse, or none at all. This also includes erasing any sockets in the item, and removing any socketed gem/rune/jewel properties. The item is all new, just the base item type is preserved, so whatever you use in the recipe is going to be totally gone.
