Wire Cloth Definitions

Bolting Cloth - A group 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 - Indentation on 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 micron 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.
Selvage - 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.