I read in news.txt that
- fixed: companions performing some tasks too fast
Due to miscalculations in companion time counters they managed to complete some tasks, eg. felling trees, all too fast. The issue was mostly noticed in woodworking tasks, but you may find some other companion performed tasks also to appear in slower more reasonable pace now.
I gave my companion a stone axe. He felled a tree in 1 hour, and carved a trunk into a log in 1 hour. Then he made some boards for me. The boards took a couple hours I think, and he got 3 perfect boards, 15 fine boards, and 2 decent boards.
It seems that tool suitability is not yet implemented for NPCs when it comes to how long tasks take or the quality of items they produce.