Woven Wire Cloth on a Wire Loom

Wire mesh, or wire gauze, is cloth woven from metal wire on a loom much like a textile loom. Warp wires run the length of the cloth; a shuttle, or in later looms sliding carriers, takes the weft wire across through the shed, and the lathe (beater) knocks it up to the fell of the cloth, twice in hand weaving. Fine wire is soft and easily kinked, so the shed is kept low to avoid straining the warp. Mesh is named by its count, historically the number of openings per inch.