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Glossary / Tolerances Wire Mesh

Crimp – Corrugations in wires to lock them in place.

Double Crimp – Corrugations in both warp and shute wires to lock wire in position.

Flat Top – A Weave in which all crimps are on the underside of the cloth, thus providing a smooth surface

Gauge – Measure of wire diameter. The actual wire diameter should always be specified in decimal sizes.

Inter-Crimp – Extra crimps in warp and fill wires between intersections. Most often used in wide mesh to assure accurate openings.

Lock-Crimp – A Weave in which deep crimps in wires at points of intersections lock wires securely in place. Usually specified for heavy-duty screening.

Long-Slot – A weave in which shute wires are arranged in clusters to provide slotted openings

Mesh – When the mesh is specified as a number, it refers to the number of openings in a lineal inch measured from the center of one wire to a point 1” distant.

Oblong Mesh – Wire cloth with rectangular openings, resulting in a different mesh count in the fill than in the warp. Usually called “off count” in the case of finer meshes.

Plain Weave – Wire cloth in which each warp wire and each shute wire pass over one and under the next adjacent complementary wire in both directions.

Plain Dutch Weave – The same as “Plain Weave” except that warp wires are usually larger than shute wires, and the shute wires are closely spaced, resulting in a dense weave with tapered or wedge-shaped openings.

Selvage – A finished edge to prevent unraveling of wire cloth.

Square Mesh – Wire Cloth with mesh count the same in both directions.

Twilled Weave – Wire cloth in which each warp wire and each shute wire passes successively over two and under the next adjacent pair of wires.

Twilled Dutch Weave – A combination of “Plain Dutch” and “Twilled”, except that the warp and shute wires are usually the same size.