Today I finished my first pair of chinks. Of the three pairs of chaps I’ve made (batwings, Arizona shotguns, and these), these were the most complicated. However, my skills and knowledge have improved a little and I have bought a few more tools, so there were no real difficulties.

These are from Bob Klenda‘s Red Rock Chink patterns. The patterns are sufficiently detailed for a beginner (I fall into that category), however I ran into a few minor details where a little more information, or some prior experience and knowledge would have helped. I’ll get to that in a minute. These chinks have three leg straps on each side with 5/8″ brass buckles, making for good adjustability for leg size. The back belt is solid, so the chinks are adjusted for waist size by the 1/2″ front belt.

As with the other two pairs of chaps, the leather is 5/6 oz oil-tanned chap leather I purchased online from The Leather Guy. I have been happy with all three sides of leather I have bought through this outlet. Much of what they sell is blemished in some way, and is therefore considered #2 quality, however he provides excellent photos of each piece of leather and provides detailed descriptions. You purchase the piece in the pictures. All three sides I have bought were exactly as described. I have been very pleased, not only with the leather, but also with the service, prices, and shipping costs.

I began as I did with the other two pairs of chaps, by laying out the pattern on top of the leather and tracing around it with a #5 overstitch wheel. The overstitch wheel marks the leather sufficiently to transfer the pattern lines to the leather without cutting the pattern, so the pattern is preserved. After that, I cut out the first legging. I then used the first legging as a pattern to mark the second legging, by tracing around it with the tip of a stylus or awl. Make sure you cut both a left and right leg!

I made the yokes and shields for the conchos out of 7/8 oz tooling leather, onto which I stamped a basket pattern. I seem to be getting a little better at stamping and I am pleased with the way they came out. I stamped the same pattern on the belt as well. The leg shields, where the legging buckles attach is made of chap leather, stitched into place.

After stitching everything together I cut the rivet holes and oblong holes for the concho strings. The conchos are held in place with the traditional “bleed knots”, however, per the plans, the buckle straps on the back side are fixed in place with a rivet that runs through the strap, the concho string, and the tooled shield on the front. The rivet is covered by the concho. I like the way Bob designed this. It makes for a very durable pair of chinks that are very adjustable in leg size. Having said that, I didn’t assemble the straps and conchos until after I cut the fringe.

I marked out on the face of the chinks, freehand, where I thought the fringe line should be, with white chalk. The plans call for 5″ fringe, but mine worked out to 6″. Next, I marked guide lines to help me keep the fringe cut at the proper angle, as I worked around the pattern. I hung the chap on my leg, to see how it would hang, then marked the lowest point (the knee) so that the lace at that point would hang straight down when I was standing. Then I marked guide lines up each side, gradually changing the angle to make things look right.

The preferred method of cutting fringe, according to several leather workers on Leatherworker.net , is to use a round cutting wheel, such as are sold in fabric stores, however, some use the traditional round knife, and others use utility knives with polished blades. Whatever you choose, make sure it is razor sharp. As one fellow apptly put it, “It could cut you if you looked at it wrong.” I found I could not keep the leather from moving when I tried cutting from the inside toward the edge with a utility knife. The very end would move causing the end of the fringe to cut poorly. After several tries with the utility knife and an exacto knife, I tried my round knife. I found that by cutting from the edge toward the middle, with a steel ruler as a guide, I was able to cut straight fringes. It took a little practice to do it smoothly, though. I was very careful not to let the knife blade skip and gouge the legging. Occasionally, the round knife would not cut all the way through on parts of the fringe, so I finished those cuts with a utility knife.

I found that by cutting small wedges out of the fringe every few inches, starting about 1/4″ wide, or smaller, on the outer edge and tapering to nothing at the inside fringe line, I could keep the proper angles of the fringe, according to the guidelines I had chalked on the chap legging as I cut around the pattern. As the fringe is fairly limp, these wedges never show up and one cannot detect, even on close inspection, where they were removed. After the fringe was cut, I assembled the leg straps and conchos, as mentioned above.

For the front belt, instructions on the pattern called for the belt to be made of 9″ of 1/2″ chap leather, doubled and sewn to make each side of the belt. This is then riveted in place through a slot in the yoke. I made my belt of 7/8 oz tooling leather, as I didn’t want to have to try hand-stitching that 1/2″ wide belt strap.

For the back belt, I went with Bob’s suggestion of lacing it in place. I have seen other designs that cut the belt as an integral part of the yoke, and then lace it together in back, but Bob’s design uses less leather and allows you to cut the belt to size, and replace it in the eventuality of a change in waist size…as sometimes happens. This back belt is what determines the waist size of the chinks. Instructions for determining the proper length is provided on the pattern.

Herein is the part where a couple notes on the plans might help a rank novice like myself. Bob suggests 1/4″ or 3/8″ lacing. Since my backbelt is 1-1/2″ wide, I decided to go with the 3/8″ lacing. Bob provides a pattern for the lacing holes, with the proper spacing for each size lace. I have never laced anything before, so when I eyeballed this part, and started to think ahead on it, I quickly realized that I had no idea what size holes I needed to punch. After a little trial and error, I just decided that a number 5 worked for the edges and 4 for the middle holes. I tried making lace out of chap leather, but they looked terrible. Chap leather simply is not strong enough to skive to a thinness that looks right. Not having a clue as to what kind of leather I should use, I finally called Bob and asked him.

That’s something I really like about Bob Klenda. I have called him on several occasions and each time it is Bob who answers the phone. He is very pleasant and always willing to take the time to answer all my questions. Never has he seemed to be in a hurry, or impatient, or made an excuse to get off the phone. I have truly enjoyed the short conversations I have had with him, and I appreciate the help he has offered to assist me in making my chaps.

Anyway, Bob told me he makes his lace out of 7/8 oz latigo, which he cuts to width and splits to about 3 oz thickness. He then bevels the edges. As I don’t have a splitter, I asked whether he might consider making up a pair of laces for me and mailing them out. He was willing to do so, but about that time I realized I had recently ordered some latigo saddle strings from Sheridan Leather. I had them sitting in my shop. I decided to try splitting them the old fashioned way, with a knife. I thanked Bob for his help and let him get back to making his high-dollar custom saddles.

I took a saddle string and ran it through my Australian lace cutter, set at 3/8″ width. Then I used a wood chisel to gouge out a groove in a piece of 1X4 poplar I had lying around. The groove was about 1/2″ wide and about as close as I could come in depth to the thickness of 3 oz leather. I held the edge of my round knife on top of the board over the groove, and had my daughter help keep the lace taught as I pulled it through the groove under the knife edge, effectively and fairly accurately skiving off about half the thickness of the latigo lace.  The grain side of the lace must be down against the wood when this is done. I then polished the edge of an exacto knife on my strop board and stuck the point of it in my worktop at about a 45 degree angle. Using my thumb to guide the lace, I pulled it past the blade edge and beveled each edge on the flesh side. This is the way it was done before the advent of the lace cutters/bevelers we have available today (the Aussie lace cutter does not bevel).  These homemade laces worked like a charm and I am very pleased with the way the lace finished off the design. If I were to change anything, I might have used larger holes for the lacing, maybe #5 and #6 holes.

I finished the tooled leather off with several applications of 100% pure neatsfoot oil, followed by a coat of Sheridan’s RTC Resist and Finish. After letting the finish dry, I applied some Sheridan Brown Antique Finish. I let that set a while and buffed the excess off with a paper towel. I applied a finish coat of the RTC over that. Be careful not to get any of the dye or finish on the chap leather.

So, I have finished my first pair of chinks.

This pair of chinks will go to my dad, from whom I inherited the love of horses and horsemanship. They are a belated gift for his 80th birthday.

Happy Birthday, Dad, from a grateful son.