I picked up some brass wire mesh / screen / cloth today from McMaster-Carr that I was planning to use for fan filters, etc . . . but turns out the stuff is a bit a bit thinner than I expected. It's thicker gauge than your typical window screen material, but it's still pretty floppy and definitely not made for mounting with just a couple bolts in the corners. It's a woven material, so I'm pretty sure I will need to hold all edges in place so it doesn't fray. Anyone have experience mounting this sort of material? I've tried using window screen framing before for thinner metal screens, but it generally looks like crap and doesn't hold up well. Plus I think the mesh I have now is thick enough that it would tear up my screening tool. Most commercial applications I've seen use a blow-molded frame and thermal welding . . . not exactly equipment that I have access to.
You could fold ridges into it to make it stiffer (concertina/corrugated). What about making your own frame out of hot glue? You can use a few drops of isopropyl alcohol to peel it off the surface you glue it onto.
Corrugating is an interesting idea, but I think the edges would still fray. And it would still look messy on the inside. A hot glue frame?? I'm intrigued, but I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Is the idea to place the screen on some wax paper or something, and then lay a bead of hot glue around the edges?
It would look messy on the inside but it will hold itself up I got the idea from these kind of filters And yes that was what I had in mind. Essentially mould your own frame using hot glue.
If the material is flexible then you'll probably want to make some sort of frame to stretch the mesh over. A simple frame could be made from cutting two squares of equal size with the centres cut out to match the fan (either a circle or square). Sandwich the mesh between the frames. To stop fraying you could apply a glue between the frames.
Was trying to think of a way to pinch it between two metal frames, but was concerned it wouldn't hold very well (ie if the frames aren't perfectly flat the individual wires of the screen can slip out in those places). I suppose putting some glue in there would help.
