1.
Measuring and Marking lines: A Carpenter’s Square
and a Sharpie marker work great for this. The carpenter’s
square allows you to create nice square corners and sides and
the Sharpie makes a visible line on the mesh that you can follow
clearly afterwards.
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2. Cutting: A pair of tin snips cuts the mesh
quickly and easily (even my old pair of rusted ones worked well)
and are used pretty much like a pair of scissors.
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Smaller pieces of the mesh will tend to roll as they are cut,
but they can be reflattened easily enough.
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3. Bending: A pair of regular or needle nosed
pliers works great for bending small pieces of the mesh, but
you have to be a little creative for bending longer straight
pieces of the material. This is where a cheap Metal Bending
Brake works extremely well you can purchase the bending brake
from Harbor
Freight for about $20.00).
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But don’t fret if you don’t have one or can’t
afford one. The longer bends can also be made by placing the
mesh between two boards.
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Leave the area you want to bend exposed, clamp or hold the boards
together firmly, and then gently tap the mesh down along the
line with a hammer.
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Start at one end and gently tap about every ¾ of an inch
downward until you get to the end. Repeat this process until
the bend is nice and even at the angle you needed.
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The mesh can usually be made flat again if you make a mistake
by simply tapping it flat with the hammer on a hard level surface,
, but extreme bends where the metal has been stretched are pretty
much a write off.
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4. Painting: The mesh comes with a light protective
oil on it to help prevent it from rusting. In order to paint
the mesh you will first have to give it a light sanding with
some 200 grit sandpaper. Next you will need to apply a coat
of self etching primer that you can get from your local paint
supplier.
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After that, you’re ready to paint away. If you want to
keep the bare metal look then I’d advise some sort of
clear coat finish to keep it from rusting.
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