Rockwood 594 Roller Latch with 161 Strike

A roller latch holds a door closed with a spring-loaded roller riding into a strike, so the door pushes open from either side without a knob or lever having to retract anything. The Rockwood 594 uses a solid nylon roller for quiet operation. Use one on push/pull doors, closet and utility doors, or double doors where you want the leaf held shut but not locked. If you need the door to actually latch and lock, or need it to hold under fire-door or life-safety requirements, a roller latch is the wrong part and you want a mortise or cylindrical lock instead.

The 594 latch faceplate measures 1-1/8 x 2-1/4 inches, so the edge of the door needs a mortise to suit that faceplate footprint plus the pocket for the latch body behind it. The mating 161 strike faceplate is 1-1/8 x 2-3/4 inches, mortised into the frame. If you are replacing an older roller latch, compare those two faceplate sizes to what is cut in the door and frame now before you order.

They differ mainly in the size of the edge prep each one needs. The Rockwood 594 has a 1-1/8 inch by 2-1/4 inch latch faceplate and comes with a 1-1/8 inch by 2-3/4 inch strike, so the mortise in the door edge is short. The Emtek 8803 is a heavy duty roller latch measuring 7/8 inch by 6 inch, a narrower but much longer face. Measure the existing cutout on the door edge before choosing: a door already prepped for a 6 inch face will not be covered by the 594 faceplate, and a door prepped for the 594 would need the edge lengthened to take the 8803.

The Emtek 8803 heavy duty roller latch has a 7/8 inch by 6 inch face and suits an edge already cut for a long faceplate. The Rockwood 594 will not fill that opening; its faceplate is 1-1/8 inch by 2-1/4 inch, which leaves the rest of the mortise exposed unless the door edge is filled and re-prepped. The 594 is the choice when the door is being prepped fresh or already carries a short roller latch cutout.

Yes. The 594 has a simple adjustment for roller projection, so if the door pops open in a draft you can back the roller out for more engagement, and if it is dragging or hard to push you can take it in. That adjustment is also how you take up a slightly loose door-to-frame gap without re-mortising the strike.

The body is cast brass and it is a commercial-rated part, which is why it turns up in schools, offices, hotels and healthcare rather than as a residential closet catch. The roller itself is nylon, so it wears against the strike quietly instead of clicking metal on metal. Brass construction also means it takes standard architectural finishes rather than a plated pot-metal coating.

Three finishes: 625 bright chrome, 626 satin chrome, and BSP black suede. If the building is standardized on 626 satin chrome, which most commercial openings are, the 594 matches straight across. Bright chrome 625 pairs with polished trim, and BSP is the black option for dark hardware packages.

Handing does not apply. The roller is symmetrical and rides over the strike lip in either direction, so one part covers left-hand, right-hand, and reverse-bevel openings. That is one reason property managers standardize on roller latches for closet and utility doors across a building: one part number covers every leaf.

That is one of the common uses. A roller latch like the 594 holds the inactive leaf shut against the frame or the astragal without requiring anyone to operate hardware, and because it is not handed the same part works on either leaf. It provides no locking and no positive latching, so if the pair needs to be secured or is a rated opening, you want flush bolts or a proper latching device on the inactive leaf instead.

Both are roller latches - the same family of device, holding a door closed with a spring-loaded roller against a strike rather than with a bolt, so neither one locks and neither takes a cylinder. The Emtek 8803 is in the Roller Catch series. The Rockwood 594 uses a solid nylon roller for silent operation, has a cast brass body with a simple adjustment for roller projection, and ships with a 161 strike plus two #8 by 3/4 inch flat head combo screws for the body and two more for the strike. If the requirement is a latch that keeps a door shut with pull-to-open action, either device answers it; if the requirement is security, neither one does.

Two #8 x 3/4 inch flat-head combo screws mount the latch body and two more mount the strike, and they are supplied with the part. At 3/4 inch they are sized for the face of a hollow metal door edge or a solid wood door edge. In a hollow core door with no edge blocking there is nothing for a 3/4 inch screw to bite into, which is the usual reason a roller latch works loose.