Stainless steel woven wire mesh is a fantastically versatile product. From creating fences, to protecting greenery, to keeping warehouse shelves secure... wire mesh is cheap, effective, and easy to implement. Better yet, because of the durability of stainless steel, it’s a solution which will last for many years with an absolute bare minimum of maintenance. So, how is stainless steel wire mesh made? It’s not that complicated, but it’s good to know, particularly when deciding what type of mesh is right for your needs.
First, there's the question of materials. Wire mesh can be made from many different types of metals, but stainless steel is by far the most popular choice. It hits an excellent middle ground between cost and durability, while also being relatively easy for the manufacturer to work with. To make the wires themselves, the steel is heated up to melting point.
Then it's extruded through a series of increasingly small holes, until the desired thickness is reached. Wire mesh can have a huge range of sizes (gauges), simply depending on needs. A thin, tightly packed mesh will be excellent for situations where you want air flow-through, but no physical transmission, whereas mesh with larger wires and larger holes is better for creating strong fencing. Once the size of the wires has been determined, there’s the matter of creating the wire mesh itself.
There are two basic options here:
I. Woven Wire Mesh
The name here is literal – the mesh is woven in a manner similar to how cloth is woven, with an over-under-over-under pattern linking the various wires together. There are several options in how to handle the weave as well, which will change the overall strength, flexibility, and visual attractiveness of the final product. Often, the wires will be crimped at each intersection, specifically to help them lock together and move as one when the entire mesh moves.
II. Welded Wire Mesh
The other alternative is to simply overlay the wires in a crisscross fashion, then weld them at each joint. This creates a mesh which is stronger, but less flexible. It can be suitable as a fencing material, for example. Welded meshes like this are also commonplace in concrete work, where they can be used to reinforce a concrete slab or wall by being laid within the concrete as it’s poured.
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