What are the Benefits of Architectural Wire Mesh?

As an experienced metal fabrication company, Marlin Steel often manufactures custom baskets made from wire mesh and from sheet metal components for a variety of applications.

The engineers at Marlin have extensive knowledge and experience designing a variety of baskets to best meet the needs of any customer. 

Let’s look at the characteristics and advantages of mesh wire baskets to see if these are the right baskets for you.

3 Advantages of Wire Mesh Baskets

Here are three advantages of wire mesh baskets:

Open Space

Marlin's wire baskets are made with varying amounts of open space. Open spaces in mesh wire baskets are good for allowing a free flow of air and liquid. This makes it easy for parts to dry while sitting in the basket after a wash cycle. With a wire mesh basket, the individual wires that form the mesh can be spaced as far apart as needed to make it easier for the cleaning medium in your wash processes. 

This is useful for aqueous wash processes and vapor degreasing. Marlin's baskets make sure that the parts you wash are cleaned efficiently. 

Weight and Tensile Strength

Wire mesh baskets are typically lighter than their sheet metal counterparts, with a lower tensile strength to match. 

The baskets you choose should have the right tensile strength to hold your parts for the washing and finishing process. Heavy parts in a basket with low tensile strength may deform or damage the basket during regular usage.

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Marlin has options for the weight and tensile strength of all of their wire baskets. To increase tensile strength, you can add reinforcements to the custom basket. Some add ons include extra wires that are wrapped and welded to the outside of the basket to prevent bending. 

Flexibility of Design

Wire baskets need to conform as closely to the shape of your parts as possible so they don't move around much during the washing and finishing process.

With wire mesh baskets, creating a custom shape to hold the parts exactly is easier than it is with a sheet metal fabrication. Each wire can be bent to nearly any conceivable angle to accommodate specialty parts perfectly. Sheet metal baskets, being made from thicker, more solid pieces of metal, are more difficult to contour perfectly to a custom shape.

When to Use Custom Wire Baskets

Custom wire baskets are best for the following situations:

• You need a basket to conform perfectly to the shape of a part.
• Your basket needs the solution being applied to reach the part easily.
• You need cleaning or finishing solutions to runoff and drain away completely
• Your parts loads are relatively lightweight.

Use custom wire baskets as:

• Parts washing baskets
• Ultrasonic baskets
• Aqueous washing processes
• Vapor degreasing baskets 

Ordering Custom Wire Forms: 3 Things to Consider

Here are three things to consider when you order your custom wire forms.

1. Weight, Shape, and Size of the Parts

The first consideration to think about is the weight, size, and shape of your parts. Every custom wire basket you order must account for these things in order for the basket to be useful.

Baskets that are created without keeping your specific parts in mind may damage your parts and render them useless.

Discuss the dimensions of your parts with an expert Marlin engineer so they can create the right basket for your needs.

2. Process Temperatures

When you are purchasing your custom wire forms, you'll need to consider what temperature you'll be exposing them to. 

The metal alloy and special coating you choose will react differently when exposed to temperature extremes. Many steel alloys may end up losing tensile strength if they are consistently exposed to high temperatures.

Certain steel coatings may also become compromised when exposed to extremely low or high temperatures.

Make sure you know what temperatures you'll be exposing your baskets to and for how long before you order. This way, you'll know the right metal alloy to purchase along with the proper coating.

3. Environmental Factors

You'll need to consider the environment of the factory or storage site where you'll be using the baskets. Some mesh wire baskets can be damaged by chemicals, contaminants, or even salty sea air. 

Knowing what your baskets will be exposed to can help the engineer to optimize your basket to resist exposure to chemicals and contaminants.

Use Marlin Steel For Your Custom Wire Basket Needs

Marlin uses wire bending robots that are quick and efficient for fast execution and order fulfillment. Any style of steel basket can be manufactured for your specific needs. 

The company is the world’s best Custom Wire Mesh Services supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.