Leather Rougher

[samcolt45]

I've been kicking around the idea of purchasing Leather Rougher with my next order to SL. I'd like some input about them. How necessary are they? Could something else, perhaps a common household item serve the same function?

Thanks,

Bob

[Jazznow]

Those things are used to roughen leather on the upside, to get a stronger bond with cement. We have an item like that at the place where I'm working (shoemaker) but I never used it in 2 years. I just use some coarse sandpaper (80 grit). It does the same job and is in my opinion easier to Handle.

Have a nice day

Jonathan

[Black Dogg]

Bob,

They are only necessary if you want to glue large areas of leather together, like a lining into a bag. That being said, any time you glue two pieces of leather together you'll get better hold by roughing both glue areas.

With a rougher like this you have to be careful if you only want to scratch a small area, say a welt line on a knife sheath. For these detail jobs I have a couple of old cobbler's peg awls (short blade and regular sized handle) which work just as well.

For you it would probably be a good investment, as some holsters have linings.

For roughing the grain side of vegtan, I would try some 80 grit sandpaper; that should also do the trick.

Good Luck!

Black Dogg

[billymac814]

I have one and never use it, I just sand whatever I'm roughing up with a flex shaft grinder or for larger items I use my finisher with the coarse paper on it.

[PrePro]

Any suggestions for cleaning the larger leather roughers?

I slide a needle diagonally up the rougher pad but it's slow going, especially if used on a waxed piece of leather.

Updated link with the tool:

https://www.springfieldleather.com/Rougher-Leather

 

[Dwight]

I have two steel wire brushes . . . one standard size like painters use . . . another about the size of a toothbrush.

That toothbrush size gets used a lot . . . can't recall when I used the big one last.

Both work great . . . would not use anything else.

May God bless,

Dwight

[TomE]

EDIT TO SAY I DIDN'T NOTICE HOW OLD THIS THREAD IS.  The leather rougher is helpful if the adhesive bond will be stressed during assembly.  I use an Osborne leather rougher on the grain side of the leather filler shown here to improve the bond when making this round out of a 7 oz cover wrapped around a 9 oz filler strip.  The rough surface is the grain side of the filler after roughing and coating with Barge cement.  The cover is wrapped tightly around the edge of the filler piece and glued before sewing and trimming the excess filler.  It is difficult to get the grain side of the filler to stick to the damp cover during assembly unless I rough the grain before gluing.  Unlike a wire brush, the rougher has sharp pointed bristles that will dig into the grain and give it a suede texture without too much effort. I haven't had a problem with the Osborne rougher clogging when using on clean veg tan or bridle leather.  

Edited July 25, 2022 by TomE