woven wire mesh is described in which at least one fine mesh cloth overlies a coarser mesh backing cloth and an additional coarser mesh cloth is secured over the fine mesh cloth, whose mesh and wire size at least are selected so as in general to prevent relatively large abrasive particles from making contact with the fine mesh cloth.

Two fine mesh cloths may be sandwiched between the coarser cloths. In one screen the backing cloth is 30# x 01.280mm diameter S/S wire, the upper fine mesh is 180# x 0.030mm diameter S/S wire, the lower fine mesh is 160# x 0.036mm diameter S/S wire, and the additional top cloth is 30# x 60# x 0.160mm diameter S/S wire. A method of making such a screen is described in which the cloths are in turn laid over a rigid frame to which they are to be bonded and the tension in the wire mesh cloths is achieved using pneumatically powered rams acting on clamps which grip the edges of the cloths.

All the rams are of the same size and different tensions are imparted to the cloths by supplying air at differing pressures to the rams acting on the different cloths. In particular a method is described for making a woven wire cloth screen which will withstand highly abrasive large particles such as obtained when drilling through Utsira sand, in which a support frame is located in a jig, a coarse backing cloth is stretched over the frame -and secured between clamping jaws along all four edges and then tensioned by moving all the clamps relatively outwardly by pneumatic rams.

Wire cloth (woven wire cloth, stainless steel wire cloth, wire cloth screen, wire cloth strainer, industrial wire cloth, metal cloth, wire cloth) is metal wire of vaious alloys that is woven or welded forming a cloth like material. Wire cloth can be formed in a variety of opening sizes and wire diameters. The open area is call mesh count or mesh per linear inch and is the critical information needed when ordering wire cloth.
Types of Wire Cloth
• Woven Wire Cloth - The most common and is used for general sorting, screening and filtering applications.
• Welded Wire Cloth - Considered to have a smoother surface and can have larger open area and/or larger wire diameter. Intersecting wires are welded together at each junction. The welds provide more strength and rigidity to maintain a uniform cloth.
Both types of Wire Cloth can be cut, formed and fabricated into various shapes to meet particular requirements or reach specific levels of filtration.
Measuring Wire Cloth
Mesh count can be shown as either a whole number, fraction, or as two numbers unless the material is a specialty cloth called space cloth - each item is described below:
• Whole Number or Fraction
Mesh Count is identified as the distance from center to center of the parallel wires horizontally and vertically .
• Space Cloth
This material is measured by the actual open space between parallel wires, known as clear opening, space size, or open area.
 

Plain Weave

Meshes per Linear inch	Diameter of wire		Width of opening		Open area percent(%)	Weight
	inch	mm	inch	mm		100sq.feet (bls.)	1sq. meter (kg)
100 105 110 120 150 160 180 200 250 325 370 400	.0045 .0030 .0040 .0037 .0026 .0025 .0023 .0021 .0016 .0011 .0011 .0009	.114 .076 .102 .094 .066 .064 .058 .053 .041 .028 .028 .023	.0055 .0065 .0051 .0046 .0041 .0038 .0033 .0029 .0024 .0020 .0016 .0016	.140 .065 .130 .117 .104 .097 .084 .074 .061 .051 .041 .041	30.2 46.6 31.5 30.5 37.8 37.0 35.3 33.6 36.0 42..2 35.0 41.0	14.20 5.72 12.40 10.20 7.10 7.00 6.70 6.30 4.60 2.86 2.96 2.16	.69 .28 .61 .50 .35 .34 .33 .31 .22 .14 .14 .11

Twilled Weave

Meshes per linear  inch	Diameter of wire		Width of opening		Open area percent(%)	weight
	inch	mm	inch	mm		100sq.feet (lbs.)	1sq.meter (kg)
100 110 120 150 160 180 200 250 270 280 300 325 400 450 510 635	.0050 .0045 .0040 .0030 .0028 .0025 .0023 .0016 .0016 .0014 .0012 .0014 .0010 .0010 .0010 .0008	.127 .114 .102 .076 .071 .064 .058 .041 .041 .036 .030 .036 .025 .025 .025 .020	.0050 .0046 .0043 .0037 .0035 .0031 .0027 .0024 .0021 .0022 .0021 .0017 .0015 .0012 .0010 .0008	.127 .117 .109 .094 .089 .079 .069 .061 .053 .056 .053 .043 .038 .030 .025 .020	25.0 25.6 26.6 30.8 31.4 31.1 29.2 36.0 32.1 37.9 39.7 30.5 36.0 29.2 26.0 25.8	16.90 12.40 10.20 7.10 7.00 6.70 6.30 4.60 4.29 3.88 3.07 4.40 2.45 2.86 3.27 2.66	.82 .61 .50 .35 .34 .33 .31 .22 .21 .19 .15 .21 .12 .14 .16 .13

Wire Cloth Definitions
Bolting Cloth - A roup of industrial wire cloth specs of stainless steel or monel with plain square mesh pattern. Wire diameter is lighter than Mill Grade. Typically high percentage of open area.
Calender- To pass wire cloth through a pair of rollers to reduce thickness or flatten intersections of wires and provide a smooth surface. Also called rolled.
Coarse Mesh - Wire with mesh count of less than 30x30.
Count - Applies only to Mesh cloth - the number of openings per linear inch, measured from the center of any wire.
Crimp - Indentationon wire to provide a locking surface for perpendicular wires. Reduces deformation of hole size and shape.
Fill Wires - See Shute.
Filter Cloth - Wire cloth for filtration and straining. Usually an off-count with a different wire diameter in the warp than in the shute. The opening size is usually expressed in microns.
Fine Mesh - Wire cloth with mesh count of 90x90 and higher.
Gauge - The wire dameter. In the wire industry, 'gauge' is not synonymous with the various gauge numbers assigned arbitrarily by certain authorities.
Hard Wire - Wire drawn to a smaller size after annealing.
Market Grade Wire Cloth - a group of industrial wire cloth specifications selected for general purpose work. These range from a 2x2 mesh/.63wire/.437 opening to a 635x635mesh/.0008 wire. Wire diameters are slightly larger than Mill Grade or Tensil Bloting Cloth. Market grade specifications are generally considered 'stock' and available off-the-shelf.
Medium Mesh - Wire Cloth with mesh count of 30x30 through 90x90.
Mesh - The number of openings per linear inch, measured from the center of any wire. Larger openings are listed as fractions (5/8" to 1") which is the distance between the centers of two adjacent wires.
Micron - One mcron equals .00003937 inch or .001 mm. A unit of measurement of particle retentions of filter media.
Open Area - Open area as a percentage of total coverage of cloth. 1x1 space cloth ranges from 44.4 to 70.7%. 1x1 mesh cloth ranges from 44.8 tp 86.1%.
Off-Count - Wire cloth where mesh count of the shute wires differs from (usually less than) the warp. shute wire diameter may be different from the warp wire (usually lighter).
Raw Edge - Unfinished edge running the length of the screen. "Sealedge" - Cut edges are smoothed and sealed against fraying. Applicable to certain medium to fine meshes.
Salvage - A finished, woven edge running the length of the roll. Prevents unraveling. Also called loop edge.
Shute - The cross wires, carried back and forth by the shuttles. Also called the Fill and Weft wire.
Space - The distance or open spave between the facing edges of two adjacent parallel wires.
Space Cloth - Wire cloth selected according to clear open distance measured from the facing edges of two adjacent wires (warp and shute), regardless of wire diameter.
Square Mesh - Wire cloth having the same mesh count and wire diameter in boith the warp and shute directions.
Testing Sieves - Stainless steel or brass round frames with extremely accurate openings. Wire cloth is usually of stainless steel, brass or phosphor-bronze with non standard wire diameters.
Warp - Wires running lengthwise with the cloth. In waving, Warp wires are set first, at the desired spacing, in a procedure called warping the loom.
Weft Wire - see shute.

Material for weaving stainless steel wire mesh ( wire cloth ) is divided into Type 304, Type 304 L, Type 316 and Type 316 L.

Type 304 :
Often referred to as "18-8" ( 18% chromium, 8% nickel ) T-304 is the basic stainless alloy mostly
commonly utilized for wire cloth weaving. It withstands outdoor exposure without rusting and resists oxidation at an elevated temperature up to 1400 Degrees Fahrenheit.

Typical wire cloth applications include use with chemicals, food products, pharmaceuticals and exposure to moisture.

Type 304 L :

Type 304 L is very similar to T-304, the difference being the reduced carbon content for better weaving and secondary welding characteristics.

Type 316 :

Stabilized by the addition of 2% molydbenum, T-316 is an "18-8" alloy.

Type 316 has better resistance to pitting corrosion than the other chromium-nickel stainless steels where brines, sulphur-bearing water or halogen salts, such as chlorides are present. A valuable property of T-316 is high creep strength at elevated temperatures. Other mechanical properties and fabricating characteristics are similar to T-304.