Wire Mesh for Screen Printing (Benefits, Alternatives, and Cost)

26 May.,2025

 

Wire Mesh for Screen Printing (Benefits, Alternatives, and Cost)

At W.S. Tyler, we pride ourselves on the quality and versatility of our stainless steel woven wire mesh. As a company that has been weaving and working with stainless steel wire for over 50 years, we have seen an endless amount of uses and industries use our mesh.

For more information, please visit our website.

Some of those uses are more current, or new, and some of those industries have been around forever.

One of those industries that have been around for a long time the screen printing industry. There are many kinds of media that can be used for the screen printing industry, but stainless steel mesh has proven to be one of the most efficient and cost effective options.

In this article, we are going to dive into what makes stainless steel wire mesh such a great solution for the screen printing world in terms of benefits, cost and finding the best fit for your needs.

We are also going to cover the situations where stainless steel mesh may not be the right fit for your screen printing needs.

What Is Screen Printing?

Screen printing is a printing technique that uses mesh to transfer ink onto a substrate. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the openings in the mesh with ink/paste. A stencil will block parts of the openings in the mesh to create a design on the surface being printed on.

When screen printing originated, back in the ’s, silk screens were used to transfer the designs. The problem with using silk as a screening media is that over time, it doesn’t hold up because it will swell up and tear.

Today, the most common media for screen printing are polyester, nylon, and stainless steel.

At W.S. Tyler, we supply stainless steel woven wire mesh as screening media for this industry.

Benefits of Stainless Steel Wire for Screen Printing

When it comes to screen printing there are quite a few reasons why stainless steel wire mesh is ideal.

Those benefits are:

- Tension
- Stability and Durability
- Heating Capabilities
- Cost Savings
- Calendaring for precise printing

Tension

Tension is very important to the screen printing industry. The media serving as the screen is stretched tightly before the squeegee with ink is run over the screen.

Stainless steel has less than 1% elongation, while other materials, like nylon or polyester, have more than 5%.

If you were to try to stretch nylon or other synthetic materials at certain tension levels, it will create rectangular openings which could tear and cause inconsistencies in your printing. This means that stainless steel woven wire is able to be tensioned, or stretched, at very high rates without changing the shape of each individual opening.

Stability and Durability

Stainless steel wires are also more stable than polyester or nylon.

Stainless steel woven wire can withstand hard conditions, even at the smaller opening sizes and thinner wire diameters.

With nylon or polyester, there is a limit to how fine or thin, you can get your individual threads to be because they cannot withstand the tension and stretch that is needed.

Stainless steel woven wire can get down to a very small diameter of each wire and still be able to be stretched and tensioned without suffering any alterations to the mesh itself or your process.

Cost Savings

There are two main ways we have seen stainless steel wire mesh reduce cost in this industry.

The first is the available options with wire mesh in terms of weaves. These different patterns and weaves can 

allow for more ink to be deposited in one pass, eliminating the need for multiple passes for each print.

Each time a pass is needed, you risk not having it line up precisely with the last pass and are also spending more in time and ink/paste.

The second cost saving benefit to stainless steel wire is if you are using very expensive ink or pastes.

The wire diameter is critical to reducing costs in terms of paste or ink needed. Stainless steel wire mesh is able to use a very limited amount of paste to transfer.

Stainless steel can be made with very thin individual wires that still offer a very high connectivity.

Link to JINBIAO

When the amount of paste needed can be reduced to a such an exact amount, this can save companies using expensive paste, like silver in the solar industry, significant money.

Calendaring for Accuracy

One of the biggest challenges with the screen printing process is movement within the screen.

The Advantages of Using Metal Mesh for Your Products!

If you’re into construction, carpentry, and transportation, to mention but a few, you’ve most likely used a metal mesh.

A metal mesh is an expanded sheet or roll of metal consisting of strands of metal running from one end of the sheet to the other. These strands form openings of different sizes that form a barrier hence the name mesh.

The size of the openings ranges from the smallest size 1/8″ x1/8″ to the biggest size 6″ x6″ while the size of the entire expanded sheet can be as big as 10 feet long for a standard sheet and 100 feet long for a standard roll. The openings can also take different shapes such as a square, hexagon, diamond, and circle.  

Depending on the use of the mesh, you can choose one made of stainless steel, copper, aluminum, bronze, galvanized steel, brass, Monel, carbon steel, or brass. You can also make it from an alloy of the metals mentioned above. Therefore, the type you use depends on the material used or alloy, the size of the entire sheet or roll, and the shape and size of the openings.

This article will explore more on metal mesh, also known as expanded metal. You’ll learn how it is formed, its application, and the advantages of using it.

How Is A Metal Mesh Made? 

You’re probably picturing a welded or woven wire mesh by the description given above. However, note that these are two different types of products. The best way to tell the difference is first understanding how a metal mesh or expanded metal is made.

As mentioned before, a metal mesh is made from a sheet or roll of metal. The sheet of metal is put into an expanding machine where it’s made thinner so that it can stretch. As the sheet of metal stretches, its surface area begins to cut so that uniform holes are made on the metal.

The difference between a metal mesh and a wire mesh is that the metal mesh holes are molded within the metal sheet. On the other hand, the holes are made from thin strands of metal woven or welded together for a wire mesh.

Secondly, the metal mesh remains strong regardless of the expansion. Meanwhile, the thinner the wire mesh, the weaker it becomes. Therefore, a wire mesh is used for less intensive applications, and it’s relatively cheaper than an expanded metal.

Applications Of Expanded Metal 

The uses of a metal mesh can be summarized as protection as a barrier, support in the construction industry, and custom applications such as decorations. Here are the applications of a metal mesh:

  • Construction industry. The mesh is used to support parts of the construction such as adobe in walls, plaster, or stucco. 
  • Modern architecture. The expanded metal has found a niche in modern technology where the metal mesh is being used to form decorative features and building facades. 
  • Filtering water. An example is in large gabions to avoid soil erosion. 
  • Infill panels
  • Used to make ventilations for big machines  
  • Functional and decorative trellis

Here are the advantages of using expanded metal for all your needs:

1. Metal Mesh Is Made From One Material

As detailed in the article, expanded metal is made from one sheet of metal being stretched. Out of this fact only, there are two advantages of using it. First, there’s less waste while designing one, and second, the metal retains its strength. The two will be discussed further in the points to follow.

Other than these benefits, it can easily undergo further transformation such as sheering and pressing since they’re made of one piece of metal sheet. As such, should you need to change the form of the mesh, you won’t have to purchase a new one. 

2. Minimum Waste Is Produced

Creating the holes on a metal mesh involves stretching the sheet of metal as opposed to punching holes into it. If you punch holes, the punched-out metal can’t be used, which increases the amount of waste produced.

3. A Lower Cost

If you’re producing little to no waste, it means you’ll need fewer sheets of metal, which will cost less than if you’re throwing some away as waste. Additionally, some metals can expand more to cover a large area. If this is the case, you may end up needing fewer sheets or rolls of metal for your design.

4. A Metal Mesh Is Strong

When the sheet of metal is expanded, it loses some of its weight. However, this doesn’t compromise the integrity of the metal. Therefore, the uncut parts of the metal remain sturdy and the stretched strands can withstand more pressure as compared to woven or welded joints. The strength makes it suitable to offer support to other structures during construction.

5. Metal Mesh Has Anti-Slip Properties

As mentioned, the strands of the metal forming the openings are stretched from the metal sheet. The knuckles where the strands meet have a firm grip as opposed to if these strands were woven. The sturdiness of the knuckles makes them anti-slip, which is most appropriate for constructing walkways, stair treads, and ramps.

6. It’s Highly Efficient

Because a metal mesh is made of one piece of material and there are no breaks from one strand to another, electric and magnetic energy flow continuously throughout the mesh. As such, if you intend to use it for any power-related tasks, you can be sure of efficiency and reduced loss of energy since a metal mesh has minimal destruction.

7. It Can Be Made From An Alloy

When processing you can mix two or more metals to strengthen the mesh, increase its expansion capability, and sometimes for aesthetic purposes. Whatever your reason, a metal mesh allows you to play with different metals to achieve your desired alloy.  

8. Flexibility 

It gives you the flexibility you need to mold a mesh of your own design and aesthetic while still maintaining optimum functionality. For example, if you want to achieve more light you can use larger cuts to create large openings. With a perforated mesh, however, the larger the cuts, the weaker the mesh, which means that eventually, the it won’t serve its purpose.

To Sum It Up

Although their physical appearance is alike, there’s a difference between a metal and a wire mesh. The metal mesh is stronger, more expensive, and has more benefits. It’s made of one material, so there’s minimal waste produced; and due to reduced waste, it’s cheaper to mold and use a metal mesh.

Other advantages are that it is strong with sturdy knuckles that make it suitable for anti-slip constructions such as walkways. Moreover, it is highly efficient, it can be made from an alloy, and finally, it’s flexible to different designs and functions.

Are you interested in learning more about High-Elastic Wire Mesh? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

Article and permission to publish here provided Claire Glassman. Originally written for Supply Chain Game Changer and published on February 5, .
Guest Posts
*
*
* CAPTCHA
Submit