JasonPAtkins
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2010
- Location
- Guinea-Bissau, West Africa
Hey all, I’m working on the trommel I was talking about in this other thread.
I now need to figure out the best way to attach stainless wire mesh so that it won’t fray over time. A couple hundred pounds of sawdust will be rolling around inside the machine, and at some points I can’t avoid the mesh needing to have holes to allow the support spars to connect through to hold the outer layer of screen. Obviously, I’m not going to put holes in it where I don’t have to – but the dual chambered nature of the machine means that the inner layer of mesh has to have some holes in it.
I’m worried though, about the mesh fraying over time like cloth would.
So first, is this an issue I need to be worried about? The mesh will be pinned between a traversing piece of angle iron and a radial hoop of flat bar. Doesn’t it seem like, over time, the wire mesh will fray? Or perhaps the stiffness of the stainless wire threads (60 mesh and 30 mesh) will mean that won’t be a problem like it would with cloth?
Second, what can I do to minimize the effect? I need 14mm holes in it for the spars to pass. I was planning to punch the holes on a bench punch, figuring that’d be the cleanest cut I can make. Would it be worth trying to braze around the hole after (or maybe before?) I make it – kind of like paper hole protector rings you use in a binder? Or, I was also wondering about using an external tooth lock washer against the mesh, figuring its teeth might kind of grab on to the wires and spread the pulling load, so it’s not as easy for individual wires to fray.
Or another idea – could I use my cnc plasma to cut the holes, assuming that the cut is going to fuse the ends of the wires together? (Perhaps with a sacrificial backing piece of stainless sheet metal?)
I looked around online for ideas on best practices for affixing wire mesh cloth, but most of what I found was for much bigger, heavier cloth where you can put a bolt through the (much larger than mine) holes that are already in the mesh.
I now need to figure out the best way to attach stainless wire mesh so that it won’t fray over time. A couple hundred pounds of sawdust will be rolling around inside the machine, and at some points I can’t avoid the mesh needing to have holes to allow the support spars to connect through to hold the outer layer of screen. Obviously, I’m not going to put holes in it where I don’t have to – but the dual chambered nature of the machine means that the inner layer of mesh has to have some holes in it.
I’m worried though, about the mesh fraying over time like cloth would.
So first, is this an issue I need to be worried about? The mesh will be pinned between a traversing piece of angle iron and a radial hoop of flat bar. Doesn’t it seem like, over time, the wire mesh will fray? Or perhaps the stiffness of the stainless wire threads (60 mesh and 30 mesh) will mean that won’t be a problem like it would with cloth?
Second, what can I do to minimize the effect? I need 14mm holes in it for the spars to pass. I was planning to punch the holes on a bench punch, figuring that’d be the cleanest cut I can make. Would it be worth trying to braze around the hole after (or maybe before?) I make it – kind of like paper hole protector rings you use in a binder? Or, I was also wondering about using an external tooth lock washer against the mesh, figuring its teeth might kind of grab on to the wires and spread the pulling load, so it’s not as easy for individual wires to fray.
Or another idea – could I use my cnc plasma to cut the holes, assuming that the cut is going to fuse the ends of the wires together? (Perhaps with a sacrificial backing piece of stainless sheet metal?)
I looked around online for ideas on best practices for affixing wire mesh cloth, but most of what I found was for much bigger, heavier cloth where you can put a bolt through the (much larger than mine) holes that are already in the mesh.