Minou, Tamarea said three things about the old vs new rites that should help you understand your questions:
1. "Will I lose bonuses earned with old rites?
No, you will keep them. However, they won't be stackable with new bonuses: A bonus given by an old rite will not be obtainable a second time by a new rite giving the same reward."
2. "You will still keep earned bonuses and be able to read Lore texts from old rites."
3. "My non-reckless character seems to have lost its pre-merge bonuses, is this intended?
It's a known bug. Non-reckless characters have kept rites and earned stanzas, but not health, sap, stamina and focus bonuses. We are working on fixing this."
From this I would deduce that the craft plan for the generic axe should have been there all the time since the merge (if you had it before merge), however the extra stats should be coming back some time soon when that bug is fixed.
And, no, you don't have to redo any rite in order to have a bonus that you had prior to the merge.
1. "Will I lose bonuses earned with old rites?
No, you will keep them. However, they won't be stackable with new bonuses: A bonus given by an old rite will not be obtainable a second time by a new rite giving the same reward."
2. "You will still keep earned bonuses and be able to read Lore texts from old rites."
3. "My non-reckless character seems to have lost its pre-merge bonuses, is this intended?
It's a known bug. Non-reckless characters have kept rites and earned stanzas, but not health, sap, stamina and focus bonuses. We are working on fixing this."
From this I would deduce that the craft plan for the generic axe should have been there all the time since the merge (if you had it before merge), however the extra stats should be coming back some time soon when that bug is fixed.
And, no, you don't have to redo any rite in order to have a bonus that you had prior to the merge.