How We Knit Wire Mesh

1.Knitting wire mesh is based on principles similar to garment knitting, but is produced using specialised heavy-duty machinery.

single loop knitted meshInitially formed as a cylinder, the knitted material is rolled to produce a lay flat sock which can vary in width from 6mm to 1000mm.

The material has interlocking asymmetrical loops of wire which can move relative to one another, allowing sideways and lengthways stretch. Because each loop is bent like a small spring this also provide high resilience.


2. Material Choices:
Any material that can be drawn or spun into filament form can be used to produce a knitted mesh structure for use in the manufacture of our products including:

  • Stainless steel - for long life, temperature and corrosion resistance
  • Galvanised steel - for low cost, less demanding applications
  • Aluminium - for numerous aerospace, military and nuclear applications
  • Copper - in compressed form, for breathers and nickel filters
  • Nickel and copper nickel alloys - for use in marine or saline environments
  • Polypropylene - lightweight, inexpensive and corrosion resistant
  • Hostaflon and Teflon FEP - fluoro polymers for excellent performance in acidic environments
  • Glass wool and Teflon - for the filtration of very fine particles
  • Plastic / multi-filaments - for high-efficiency applications and noise reduction
Knitting Machine Illustration


3.Knitting machines have four main points of interest:

A: The spool or spools of material to be knit
B: The filament/strand feeder
C: The cylinder head
D: The knit sock

Material strands are pulled from the feeder spools, channelled through the strand feeder, and knit by the needles held in the cylinder head. The knit material is then drawn through and stored for further processing.

Changing the number of feeder spools, strand feeders and set-up, and size, arrangement and number of needles in the cylinder head enables various types of mesh to be knit.

our factory has a huge range of knitting machines, cylinder heads, and strand feeder set-ups which allows them to make knitted mesh to almost any customer specification.

For more information on how we can satisfy your knitted mesh requirement, pls feel free to contact us.

4.Multi-Strand Knitting

means to knit more than one strand or filament material into a mesh product.

Hand-knitting and simple machine-knitting techniques mean a single strand or filament makes up the entire garment.

By modifying cylinder feeders, spool positions and the materials used, KnitMesh is able to produce a vast array of multi-filament, co-knit, and multi-strand meshes.

single loop knitted mesh
Figure 1. Single-loop mesh

Multi-Filament Mesh

Simple machine-knit mesh has a single strand or filament in each knitted loop (as seen in Figure 1). Multi-filament mesh combines several strands of a similar material to form the loops (Figure 2).

Co-Knit Mesh

Co-knit mesh is similar to multi-filament mesh, but this time different materials are combined into each knitted loop (Figure 3).

Multi-Strand Mesh

Multi-strand mesh is similar to single-loop knitting, but in this case the knit layers are phased with different materials. Figure 4 shows a simple ABAB layering structure but more complex phasings are possible (ABAC... etc.)

Multi-Layer Mesh

Mesh is usually knit as a single sock but it is possible to knit one sock of mesh inside another (Figure 5).

multi-filament mesh
Figure 2. Multi-filament mesh
co-knit mesh
Figure 3. Co-knit mesh
multi-strand mesh
Figure 4. Multi-strand mesh
multi-layer mesh 
 Figure 5. Multi-layer mesh