The EQUIVALATOR window allows a player to generate BRAND NEW CRAFTED ITEMS AND/OR RESOURCES from previously crafted items, all for a REASONABLE FEE PAID IN DINERO. The results of this operation vary depending on the number of OUTPUT SLOTS selected. For example, the same EQUIVALATED C-grade item may generate a single D-grade item, an F-grade item and a D-grade resource, two F-grade items and an F-grade resource, and so on. The specifics of the output results are all down to the EQUIVALATED item in question, pretty much. Crafting is not an exact science.
This does raise the question: why would you ever waste time on that when you could be ALTERNATING your trash crafts instead?
The ALTERNATOR is where the real fun is. Also for a REASONABLE FEE PAID IN DINERO, a player may ALTERNATE a crafted item and generate a different crafted item with a similar recipe, only with a randomized grade. The methods which determine what counts as a "similar recipe" can be obtuse and arcane, but that's what makes it fun. It's about the thrill of the chase, the uncertainty, the adrenaline, the odds stacked against you. Also, you're sure that if you just keep on rolling you'll hit the big time with an S-grade pull.
Along with these heady new crafting features, you also get the ITEM PREVIEW window! Which is self-explanatory.
Of course, you knew this already. You've been palling around with these systems for long enough to grasp all the ins and outs.