Secondary
Mesh grids and cable trays
Welded wire mesh, machine-guard grids, and cable trays. The form is cut and bent first. The job is the joint: resistance weld on the intersections, MIG or TIG on rims, mounts, and splices.
What this page is
Grids and trays are not a single CNC path. They are a lot of straight (or lightly formed) wires joined so they carry load and hold an opening. The secondary is the product.
We run that secondary in the 4–14 mm band: resistance welding for cross-wire mesh, MIG and TIG for frames, lips, hangers, and anything a nugget cannot reach. Forming of rims, returns, and tray sidewalls is 2D or 3D CNC as the print requires.
Infill lighter than 4 mm is called out on the quote. Structural wires, rims, and tray sides stay in band.
Mesh wire grids
A grid is a rim plus an opening pattern. Typical work: machine guards, partitions, shelves, wire-basket bottoms, fence panels, and fixture decks. Line wires and cross wires meet at every intersection. That intersection is a resistance-weld candidate until the alloy, the access, or the spec says otherwise.
- Rim / border — heavier wire or a formed frame. Often MIG or TIG at corners, resistance weld where the mesh meets the rim.
- Mesh — pitch (center-to-center), wire diameter, and whether the pattern is square, rectangular, or a flattened “security” mesh.
- Returns and mounts — bent lips, feet, and brackets. 2D or 3D form, then a fillet or a projection weld to the grid.
A drawing that says “welded wire mesh” without pitch, rim diameter, and weld type is not a grid print. It is a request to invent one.
Cable trays
Wire cable trays are a U-shaped grid: bottom mesh, two sidewalls, often a folded lip, plus splices and hangers. The industry pattern is resistance-welded intersections along the length, then formed into the channel. Mounts, dropouts, and covers are where MIG and TIG show up.
- Channel — width, height, and whether the sidewall is a 90° return or a radius.
- Span and load — wire diameter and pitch are structural, not cosmetic. 4 mm on a wide tray is a different part from 8 mm on a short run.
- Splices and accessories — couplers, wall brackets, dropouts. Usually MIG or TIG to a formed tab, not a cross-wire nugget.
- Finish — zinc after weld is the usual carbon path. Stainless is passivate. Pre-galv mesh burns at every intersection — see plating.
Which weld, and why
| Joint | Process | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Line wire × cross wire (mesh) | Resistance (cross-wire) | Speed, repeatability, no filler. The default grid joint. |
| Mesh to rim, round on round | Resistance, or MIG if access is poor | Nugget if electrodes fit; fillet if they do not. |
| Rim corners, tray lips, hangers | MIG | Fillets on carbon and most stainless frames. Faster than TIG on production. |
| Stainless, 330, visible cosmetic, thin-to-heavy | TIG | Heat control. Less blow-through on 4 mm into an 8–12 mm rim. |
| Wire to plate or punched bracket | Resistance projection, or MIG/TIG | Projection if the sheet is tooled for it; fusion if it is a one-off mount. |
Resistance weld is not a worse MIG. MIG is not a fancier resistance weld. TIG is not “stainless only.” Pick the joint the geometry and the alloy can actually make — then put that process on the print.
Sequence: weld the grid flat when you can, then form the tray channel or the guard return. Forming a closed 3D mesh and then trying to get electrodes inside it is how a simple tray becomes a TIG sculpture.
What changes from 4 to 14 mm
| Diameter | Inch | Grids and trays |
|---|---|---|
| 4 mm | 0.157 in | Common mesh and light tray wire. Resistance weld is routine. TIG if the rim is much heavier than the infill. |
| 8 mm | 0.315 in | Standard industrial tray and guard rim. Cross-wire plus MIG corners. |
| 12 mm | 0.472 in | Heavy decks and structural rims. Nuggets are large; fixture the panel or it bows. |
| 14 mm | 0.551 in | Frame and border, not infill. Treat corners as fabrication. Confirm the resistance cell before you assume a grid welder scales. |
What to send
- Overall size, mesh pitch, and which wires are rim vs infill
- Wire diameter and material for each (they are often different)
- Weld type by joint: resistance, MIG, TIG — not “weld as required”
- Flash: as-welded on the mesh, dressed on a named face
- Tray: width, height, length, lip, splice method, hanger locations
- Finish and whether it is after weld
- Load or opening spec if the grid is a guard
A STEP of a solid block with a mesh texture is not a grid. A DXF of the pitch plus a rim section is. Inspect pitch, overall, and a peel sample on the mesh — not every nugget on a 2 m tray.
Related
- Cable trays · Heavy-duty wire baskets · Security mesh fencing · Trellis and growing structures
- 3/8, 7/16, and 1/2 in — stock diameters
- Resistance welding — cross-wire and projection
- MIG / TIG assembly — fillets, distortion, sequence
- 2D CNC · 3D CNC — rims and tray returns
- Plating and coating
- Capabilities