KTI polar mount
- Thread starter mr3p
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Priming and painting today. Looking forward to finishing the mount so I can move on to the reflector.
Those look great. After considering all options, I decided to stick with galvanized and picked up a galvanized 5/8" and 3/4" rods to replace the elevation eye bolt and declination bolt. I have a retired fabricator contact who still has remnants of his shop that I'm going to visit next week. If he looks at what I want to do and isn't interested I'll send you a message.
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Where were you able to find replacement mesh these days?
When I searched for places to buy mesh I found quite a few. The question is, is the mesh available (due to CV-19) and how much are you willing to pay? Anyway, TEK advertises replacement mesh for sale. I don't know if it's still in stock.
If I'm not mistaken, dish mesh is considered an expanded metal. Depending upon where you live, you may be able to source it locally, Tek2000 or send a sample to someone like Niles metals and ask for a distributor. After trying a lot of different options, let me share a few suggestions for anyone considering re-meshing their dish or even just a few sections. Tools you will need are hammer, nails, metal sheer and good utility knife with extra blades. I used leftover Simpson joist hanger nails as they are short and thick but use whatever you want. You will want one 3/4" and one 1/2" thick sheet of plywood.
Remove a section of mesh to serve as the basis for a template. It doesn't matter if it has holes, as long as the perimeter is reasonably intact. Put that on top of 1/2 sheet of plywood and draw around it with a pencil and then cut it out. My advise would be to use a jig saw to cut ouside the pencil and then use palm sander to get closer to pencil mark. Something to consider is the mesh panels are not straight like a piece of pie. It took me some thinking to appreciate this but look as the shape of an orange slice and you will appreciate the sides of dish mesh panel have a slight arc. If you are going to error in size, be slightly larger as you can always trim off excess.
Mesh typically comes in a roll 40-42" depending on supplier. For a 10 foot dish mesh panel are ~5 feet long and 2 feet wide at perimeter so cut off ~5.5 feet and then cut on diagonal to have 2 triangular shaped pieces, each of which should be a little bigger than your template. Please verify exact measurements with your template before cutting mesh.
Place 3/4 plywood on top of table or work surface, place triangular shaped mesh on top and then put your temple on top of mesh. Put 4-5 nails around perimeter of template and underlying mesh in place. Now take your utility knife and repeatedly score around the outside of edge of your template. I'm right handed so I typically applied pressure to top of template with left hand and cut with my right. Don't forget nails are there are running into a nail with your fingers doesn't feel good. After cutting away mesh remove nails, trim off any excess burrs with metal sheers. Bare metal mesh is sharp so I'd advise sanding down edges with 60 grit sandpaper.
Remove a section of mesh to serve as the basis for a template. It doesn't matter if it has holes, as long as the perimeter is reasonably intact. Put that on top of 1/2 sheet of plywood and draw around it with a pencil and then cut it out. My advise would be to use a jig saw to cut ouside the pencil and then use palm sander to get closer to pencil mark. Something to consider is the mesh panels are not straight like a piece of pie. It took me some thinking to appreciate this but look as the shape of an orange slice and you will appreciate the sides of dish mesh panel have a slight arc. If you are going to error in size, be slightly larger as you can always trim off excess.
Mesh typically comes in a roll 40-42" depending on supplier. For a 10 foot dish mesh panel are ~5 feet long and 2 feet wide at perimeter so cut off ~5.5 feet and then cut on diagonal to have 2 triangular shaped pieces, each of which should be a little bigger than your template. Please verify exact measurements with your template before cutting mesh.
Place 3/4 plywood on top of table or work surface, place triangular shaped mesh on top and then put your temple on top of mesh. Put 4-5 nails around perimeter of template and underlying mesh in place. Now take your utility knife and repeatedly score around the outside of edge of your template. I'm right handed so I typically applied pressure to top of template with left hand and cut with my right. Don't forget nails are there are running into a nail with your fingers doesn't feel good. After cutting away mesh remove nails, trim off any excess burrs with metal sheers. Bare metal mesh is sharp so I'd advise sanding down edges with 60 grit sandpaper.
Really pleased with how well mesh looks after just 1 spray coat of paint. Hopefully find time to attach mesh to missing sections of reflector frame this week and then do final spray this weekend if everything completed. Only people in this forum would appreciate an old C-band dish but the mesh looks incredible and dish looks brand new. (Discoloration last picture is shadow). As I'm repainting the entire dish, I chose Dunn Edwards Aristoshield semigloss black enamel although if you have smaller section, I'm sure a can of Rustoleum would be fine. I still have to mount dish, attach new motor and pull new wires, but maybe with a little luck I'll be back to feed hunting before Halloween!
Finally found time to get all the new mesh installed. Ended up replacing ~10 of 16 panels. Screwing down pieces of metal mesh, getting them to align with frame AND keep smooth sphere arc of dish isn't a 5 minute process and definitely requires 2 people. Final spray painting this weekend then hopefully find time to re-assemble next week.
As long as you cut the mesh to the correct size and its similar thickness to the original mesh it should be able to replace the bad panels in your 12 dish.
Couple of additional suggestions:
While I used a blade to cut around the wood template, another option would be to brick on top of template, spray paint around edges and then use metal shears to cut to size. I did this method also and it works fine. After cutting mesh I would advise taking a piece of 60 grit sandpaper wrapped around short wood block to take down the sharp edges.
Always cut mesh panels so the length (radius) is oriented in the same direction as the mesh roll. This will make fitting on dish frame and keeping spherical much easier as otherwise you will be fighting the curve in the mesh.
Couple of additional suggestions:
While I used a blade to cut around the wood template, another option would be to brick on top of template, spray paint around edges and then use metal shears to cut to size. I did this method also and it works fine. After cutting mesh I would advise taking a piece of 60 grit sandpaper wrapped around short wood block to take down the sharp edges.
Always cut mesh panels so the length (radius) is oriented in the same direction as the mesh roll. This will make fitting on dish frame and keeping spherical much easier as otherwise you will be fighting the curve in the mesh.
