Todd

Hello Everybody: It seems that there are a lot of different materials being used for horn wraps so I just wanted to quiz everybody on what they use and the reasons why. I have been primarily building Wade saddles and have been using a mulehide wrap but not all customers like the color or texture so I'm just exploring other options. I look forward to hearing from you all.

The Eco Flo is total crap. It goes on uneven and wears and fades at a rediculously fast rate. Run, don't walk away from this product.

I don't have a store-front to boost my overhead but I do have a nice shop on my ranch that has to be heated and maintained. Leatherwork is also not my main source of income and therefore I can have a pretty lax attitude with my pricing. I charge $40.00 an hour plus materials for repair work and have a minumum rate of 1 hour. This keeps the small jobs to a minimum. I have yet to have a customer complain about my repair rate so maybe I'm still undercharging but I have no lack of work.

Absolutely stunning.

I have a neighbor up here in Canada that has a saddle almost identical to this one that he picked up in Argentina for riding his Paso Fino horses. He claims its rigged the way it is to take pressure off the rotating shoulders of the gaited horses.

I use daubers to apply my edge dyes but i found they were a little to thick and loose so an oldtimer told me to take a bic lighter and burn them down to the size and density that works best for me. This really helped a lot. the dauber almost always gets me a one application finish that I am happy with and i still use a brush for tight spots and touch ups.

Finally got around to posting a pic of the second saddle I made. The woman wanted a Wade with roses on it and asked that I did not put a border on it. I personally prefer a border of some type but she was adament about keeping the edges clean. This is also the very first attempt at carving roses. I know I will only get better at it but am pretty pleased with my first results. I originally put a latigo horn wrap on it and she didn't like latigo and wanted chap leather. I warned her against it as I told her it has too much give but she did not want to wait for me to get some mulehide in to do a proper wrap and claims she will only be trail riding in it and it will never see a rope. If anybody has any critiques please feel free to let me know them. I value everybody's opinions and skill sets and the ideas garnered really help with future projects. I hope to get #3 up on here soon.

Use the rivets as chicago screws have a tendency to back out and you don't want to lose that badge.

Garedn River Custom Saddles The Garden River runs through my property which also gave me the Garden River Ranch name which I love because I have a grizzly bear emblem with the initials GRR under it. lol

I personally use nothing but neatsfoot (100%) as I keep my gear in a tack room in the barn and find that any kind of edible oil invites mice to chew the leather. I also can't really see a cost savings with olive oil as it is just as expensive as neatsfoot where I live.

Great job. I've done a few myself using a different style.

I cover my table with a sheet of "puckboard" (same stuff used to line hockey boards) purchased at my builder supply store. It helps the blade glide nice even when i do cut through the leather. It is relatively cheap for a 4X8 sheet so I replace it when it does get cuts or tracks that the blade can grab.

I use a variable speed bench grinder and 1 inch felt disks that were purchased at Lee valley tools here in Canada. I also buy my rouge there as well. I find it very easy to use and as long as you are consistent with your angle every time this system leaves a very keen edge in a very short time.

Hey Buddy I had a similar experience with a saddle I made with a rose pattern which would be hard to resell. The woman told me she couldn't afford the originally agreed upon price and offered much less. I was really tempted to take the cash and chalk it up to a lesson learned but got stubborn and vowed to ride the saddle myself (I hate roses on saddles) before I would let someone fleece me like that. I said no and she wound up coming back a week later with the whole amount. Now I don't do anything without full material costs and 50% labor down.