On Feb 8, 1:07*pm, "Royston Vasey" wrote:
I'm forming some wire mesh cloth - that part is going ok.

The finished part needs to be compressed to fit into a pvc part - working it
in by hand results in scratching and marking of the pvc. I'm looking for
some ideas on how to compress the mesh part so it slips cleanly into the pvc
part. There's a few pics in the dropbox:

http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/wire_screen.pdf

My thought would be to compress it around a mandrel. My first thought
was using a ratcheting cargo strap, but chucking the mandrel in the
lathe and wrapping rope around it might work well. Sort of how one
makes springs on a lathe using something in the tool post to control
the tension in the rope. Still another idea would be using something
like a single wheel knurling tool to force the wire against the
mandrel.

Dan