How chain-link fence is made

Chain-link fence was first woven on machines adapted from cloth looms.

stations: 8
things upstream: 40
raw sources: 15
steps from the ground: 6

The short version

Galvanized steel wire arrives in coils and passes over cams and straighteners into a weaving machine. A forming worm and a spinning blade curl each wire into a zigzag spiral, and it screws into the edge of the growing mesh to make a diamond pattern. Blades cut the finished picket at fence height and hooks shape its ends. The mesh is stretched flat over rollers, trimmed, and rolled for shipping.

Draw and galvanize

Steel wire is pulled through dies to size and passed through molten zinc against rust, then wound into large coils for the weaving line.

Goes in
Steel wire Zinc
Straighten the wire

Two wires pay off roll holders, centering over cams and running through devices that kill their tension and correct their shape.
Curl into zigzag

Pulled along by the turning weaving blade, the wires pass through a forming worm and an extension worm, which give them their spiral form.
Weave into the mesh

As the blade rotates, each new spiral threads through the last picket in the fabric, and every bend hooks into its neighbor to form the diamond.
Cut and hook the picket

Feeding stops at fence height while blades cut the picket and forming hooks shape its ends. The cycle then starts on the next one.
Stretch and trim

Rollers hold the mesh taut and flat to remove slack, and spare wire is trimmed from the edges to prevent snagging.
Coat if colored

Some rolls receive a polyester or vinyl coat over the zinc for color and extra protection.

Goes in
PVC
Roll the fabric

Mesh is rolled into bundles for shipping to the fence site.

End of the lineChain-link fence

Worth repeating

Charles Barnard developed a way to make chain-link fence by machine in 1844, based on cloth weaving machines in Norwich, England.
Tennis courts often use a diamond size of 1.75 inches so power hitters cannot lodge the ball in the fence.