Stretching Hardware Cloth Tight - Best Practices?

[JDN]

See, that's the exact feedback I was needing, thanks! It's approximately 3' x 6' and I'll either do one frame with a couple supports or two roughly 3' square ones.


If I were doing it on something sideways, like a run, I'd sandwich the end of it between a couple boards and have someone hold it tight, kind of like a come-along when doing wire livestock fence. But since I'm making frames and not pulling against a solid structure, it's a bit different.

Kneel on the board on a cement floor. Then stretch it in front of you. Your weight is the solid structure.

 

[Mosey2003]

Too late now, lol. But thanks.

 

[aart]

Just wanted to come back and say I finally did it Turned out alright, though I wish it was tighter. It should work though.

View attachment 1810707 View attachment 1810708

Sometimes the mesh is just not flat and too small/tight to really stretch.
Where is this panel installed?

 

[Maugwa]

Well I haven't tried this with hardware cloth, but I have built hundreds of tents for construction sites for windy Wyoming cold weather with reinforced plastic (Rhinoskin). The tighter they are the better they work - it's flapping that wears them out, and/blows them up, so I got good at getting them as tight as a drum. I reckon some of those techniques could work with hardware cloth. As someone else stated, once it's stapled the first time, that's as tight as it'll ever get. What I would do for a tent is lay the material out to make sure it's running straight first, then I'd roll the plastic one roll on the furring strip (1x2, really 1 1/2" x 3/4") so not just the screws and pressure are holding it. The pressure will let up with wiggling and wood shrinkage, but the plastic it's self is holding plastic, the more it's pulled on the tighter it holds - like a knot, or a dallied rope on a saddle horn. The screws and furring strip hold some but mostly hold the wrap in place. I don't know if the wrap is necessary for hardware cloth, it's tuffer than plastic, but I'd use plenty of screws if I didn't, or couldn't use the wrap, and I'd sandwich the furring strip to the box with the wire in between. I'd also do it just around a corner so it was pulling "sheerly" rather than outward on the screws and had a corner to add friction to the pull strength. I'd start by getting one side attached making sure the material was straight before it was tight. This gives you something to pull against. Then I'd get four hands involved. I'd cut off a little more than I needed if plastic, enough for a wrap with a few screws to start it, and to get around the opposite corner then I'd pull for all I was worth evenly on the stick while my partner screwed it on tight. Like I said before, I never tried this with hardware cloth, so I'm thinking it's maybe too stiff to wrap. If it is, I guess one could go even further around the corner on hardware cloth and make a sandwich of two furring strips to each other that were at least one hand wider on each side of the wire to get a nice even strong pull on while the helper screwed a third strip opposite the starting strip to the box. The handle then taken off and the wire cut of flush. An angle grinder with a cut off disc cuts much easier straighter and close to an inside corner than anything else does. Then I'd go to the sides and if a small flap is on each, I'd bend one over, sandwich it, then go to the opposite and do the same. I'd tug it some, but if the first hard pull was good and tight, and straight, this direction should already be tight too. If it's not wrapped, or possible to wrap, I'd check the screws in a few days, and each use after, to tighten for wood shrinkage. If they are not good and tight, and applying enough pressure to the boards, what you have made is a slicer, the screws become the blades to your material. Even if they wont slice hardware cloth, you'll lose your tension. Everything I've written here applies even more so to tarps, and how, and why they should be tight too -- forget about using those grommets for long term tarps, especially if you live where it's usually windy.

 

[aart]

Well I haven't tried this with hardware cloth,

Well, this is about HC, not tent material....and you're a bit late to the game.
Try reading the whole thread before responding.

 

[Maugwa]

Well, this is about HC, not tent material....and you're a bit late to the game.
Try reading the whole thread before responding.

First sentence that I wrote after reading the whole thread says exactly that. Several other lines in it do to. A post Not far above me says they are not real happy about the tension still. When I'm not satisfied with something I built, sometimes I try something again with a different approach. Other people read these threads later to get ideas for their future builds, nothing wrong with considering an additional idea. Even though Mosey is past this step, Peepsi is going to build one too and wanted some ideas, like idea with an "s". I learned that when I was reading the whole thread. Am I being censored here? Or just snarked on? I was taught that if I had nothing good to say . . .

 

[aart]

I was taught that if I had nothing good to say . . .

..and I was taught.....If you've no experience with the topic/technique. . .

 

[Mosey2003]

Sometimes the mesh is just not flat and too small/tight to really stretch.
Where is this panel installed?

It's the floor in my brooder There are two metal trays underneath, I'm going to line them with newspaper and spread PDZ on. The brooder was left behind on the farm my friend bought, she decided she didn't want it so I snapped it up. It's about 3' x 6' with a long lid and the inside is about 3' high, hardware cloth on the top/lid/and two side windows with it. Came with those trays that pull out, it honestly looks like she had the trays and built the brooder around them. To me, it always seemed like she intended to put a wire floor in all along, just by how it was built, and didn't get around to it. So now there is one

 

[aart]

It's the floor in my brooder There are two metal trays underneath, I'm going to line them with newspaper and spread PDZ on. The brooder was left behind on the farm my friend bought, she decided she didn't want it so I snapped it up. It's about 3' x 6' with a long lid and the inside is about 3' high, hardware cloth on the top/lid/and two side windows with it. Came with those trays that pull out, it honestly looks like she had the trays and built the brooder around them. To me, it always seemed like she intended to put a wire floor in all along, just by how it was built, and didn't get around to it. So now there is one

Cool, that's kinda what I thought I was seeing.
So when will you test it out with chicks?

 

[Mosey2003]

Cool, that's kinda what I thought I was seeing.
So when will you test it out with chicks?

If my shipped eggs hatch tomorrow or Saturday, sometime next week. I usually keep them in my basement in a playpen for a few days to make sure they're all eating and drinking well and past the pasty butt stage, then they'll go out.