The Wire Mesh Quiz

The goal of this quiz is to help the unfamiliar user of wire mesh understand one of the most important aspects of the wire cloth industry. Identifying the mesh, or mesh count, is essential to specifying the appropriate mesh for a particular application.

According to ASTM E-2016-11, which covers the standard specifications for industrial woven wire cloth, mesh is defined as: “the number of wires or openings per linear inch (25.4 mm), counted from the center of any wire to a point exactly 1 in. (25.4 mm) distant, including the fractional distance between either thereof.”

In layman’s terms, mesh is simply the number of squares per linear inch. So, if you were to measure across one inch, your mesh, or mesh count, is the number of squares in that one linear inch. In most cases, when measuring one inch, it is important that your starting point is at the center of any wire.

Here’s an example that illustrates a 4 x 4 Mesh: