Artificial Intelligence

Can anyone recommend a good arbor press brand other than axminster? I am keen to get a 1 tonne one but don't fancy waiting any longer for axminster to restock. Otherwise I'll stick with the half tonne version because by the sounds of it it's satisfactory if not ideal. edit: they all look pretty similar so I'll just get whatever is cheapest.

Can anyone recommend a good arbor press brand other than axminster? I am keen to get a 1 tonne one but don't fancy waiting any longer for axminster to restock.

I forgot to add I would use it for things like press studs/snaps etc. Would it still work fine?

A 1 tonne press from Axminster, a tool company, was recommended to me for stamping veg tanned leather (with some minor modifications). The 1 tonne press has been out of stock for ages and probably won't be restocked any time soon. I wanted to ask, would the 0.5 tonne press work just as well for what I intend to use it for? Or should I look elsewhere. It's so cheap, costing £40 ish that I'm keen to buy it if it'll do the job.

I bought a cheap sharpening stone but I don't know whether I'm getting poor results because it's poor quality or if it's just down to poor technique (I suspect my technique is fine). There's a more expensive sharpening stone on Amazon which gets great reviews but I don't know whether to spend the money on it as a replacement or not. What do you think?

I bought a bag made made using soft matt buffalo leather and the care instructions warn against using mink oil, shoe cream and saddle soap and advised using leather lotion every three months followed by a protective spray. My question is what 'leather lotion' would you recommend I use? And what is meant by a 'protective spray'? What spray would you advise that I use?

I am following a tutorial where acryllic is shaped using a guide made using a vector line drawing produced using Adobe Illustrator. I would buy Adobe illustrator for making patterns in general since I'm not good at doing it the old fashioned way but this software is too expensive to justify the expense. Are there any suitable, cheaper alternatives you can recommend?

I've just bought some 2.2mm shoulder leather and the quality looks pretty good, with no real blemishes etc. One thing that surprised me though is how smooth the grain surface is. It's from a well known website and from what I can see I think it's decent leather and it hasn't been split like I believe they do to produce cheaper leathers, so I'm surprised there's no wrinkled/mottled grain surface like one would expect with many leathers. Is it just the characteristic of cow hide, with other leathers like goatskin having a more pronounced surface or is that not a factor? Could it be that other parts of the cow hide like the butt have a more visible grain or is there some other explanation?

I understand some PVA glue is marketed for particular applications and that some PVA glue brands are stronger than other, presumably because they are more concentrated products. But PVA is PVA, right? Am I right in saying there's nothing else that makes a PVA glue product suitable for leatherworking other than an adequate strength/concentration? What should I look out for? More specifically, is there a tried and trusted brand available for someone like me who lives in the UK?

Because I currently don't have a car weight is also a consideration too, so if the thinner granite will work that will probably be more practical for me in getting the damn thing home.

The table is a Hartleys 4ft folding table and has a stated '150kg max loading capacity'. Going by what you say JSLeather, the chocolate slab will be fine especially considering what Art said about thickness not being an issue in the first place, since bounce is primarily what you're looking for. Thank you for your input guys.

I've found a granite slab for sale that's made for making chocolates which is maybe half the thickness of the other slab I'm looking at buying and half the price. I would go for the cheaper one if the thickness was sufficient. The chocolate slab is maybe an inch thick judging from the photo but can you guys tell me how thick is thick enough? Should I go for the slab that's perhaps twice the thickness? I hope you guys are able to help