Looking for ideas to keep SS woven wire screen from unraveling

rwm said:
I have TIG and I would pass on that. That tiny wire will vaporize at 1 amp!
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Just gotta be good enough to do it.

I’ve seen old tig guys weld cig foil wrappers and razor blades, just to prove it could be done. I never woukd have believed Al foil could be welded until an old hand proved it to me. Great party trick to pull for the apprentices, but not good for much else.

I ince saw a certified pressure vessel welder tig pop cans together end to end, some pop can skin fins on it, put a Schrader valve on one end and then pressurize it. I couldn’t believe how much pressure it would take. He took it outside and pierced the end with a sharp punch and the thing had to fly a couple hundred feet straight up. was cool to watch (from a distance) but not something I would ever try. Assuming I could get the cans to weld and seal, it would likely blow up in my face!

I’m pretty good myself down to about 1/16” (in Aluminum, which is fussier than steels) but less than that then I’m just making holes. I’m no where near as good as those “foil welders”.

Those guys were pro’s before I could even spell “tig”…
 
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Something ekse to keep in mind is you don’t have to “join” every spot the wires cross. Do the corners and them space it out evenly every 4 or 5 spots where the wires cross. That will work fine if you just want to retain the edge wires.

Do every joint if you want to make the mesh stronger though.

At 0.060 wire though, I’d be tempted to just use pliers and loop the tail back over the wire to capture it. No muss, no fuss, and no spending more money on tools you may never need again.

Good luck whichever way you go.
 
If you have a spot welder, this is a perfect application for it. If you have a low current TIG, I'd give it a try. I have both, and I'd try the spot welder first as it would be easiest (for me anyways). Doing a spot weld takes a second or two and the tips clamp the wire in place. It's trivially easy!
 
Don't ask it tough questions. Mike

Quote: Looking for ideas to keep SS woven wire screen from unraveling.
 
My TIG only goes to 12a and even the shortest blast vaporizes the wire (its 0.024").

I like the idea of the silver solder route; sounds like it could be the quickest with the spot welder a next best option.

What size solder? I was guessing 1/16" would be the right pick. Amazon
 
8' is pretty long but I have a 4' sheet metal shear and brake. I just sheer the mesh and then insert the wire stub ends into the brake and bend the whole length of them to the smallest angle possible, then peen the stubs over flat to capture the last course of wire. If you don't have a sheer or brake, it's hand work with snips and peening stubs over on a straight edge or with pliers.

Best,
Kelly
 
Unfortunately I don't have a shear (I've been keeping my eye out for along time) and my finger brake is only a 24" model.
 
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