How to avoid choosing the wrong aiming cloth

There are several reasons why it is important to choose the right sieve cloth/covering. It provides better quality of the final product, less maintenance and better economy.

There are a number of different screen fabrics to choose from, both in different thicknesses and materials. Everything from modular fabrics to finger screens, Iseflex to side-tensioned/long-tensioned fabrics, rubber, PU (polyurethane) or the traditional steel fabric.

In other words, it is a jungle to choose from, and it can be expensive to choose the wrong one. This can quickly lead to more maintenance and lower quality of your end product.

So which type of aiming cloth should you choose, and how should you proceed?

The answer to it depends on a number of factors.

It is often too complicated to be easily explained, and a thorough and concrete assessment should be made in each case.

Nevertheless, we can start with some general tips. Because there are some pros and cons to certain types of sifting mats that you should be aware of.

Pros and cons of various tablecloths

Traditional steel cloth

Many quarries choose to use traditional steel cloths in the sifting process.

One disadvantage of these is that they take up much of the capacity of the operators during maintenance stoppages. At the same time, the weight of the cloth leads to a large load on both knees and elbows.

In addition, the steel cloth often has little flexibility and rusts quickly when exposed to soft material. This, in turn, causes loose matter to stick.

PU/rubber cloth

Often, the use of polyurethane (PU) and rubber cloths will be a better option from a maintenance perspective.

The fabric provides both easier and faster maintenance, and has a much longer service life.

Feel free to choose a thicker sheet in the load, and a sheet with thinner and more open area at the outlet end.

Module cloth/deck

In most cases, it will be better to use modular cloth/cover versus side-tensioned and long-tension sieves.

It is more flexible in that you can easily replace a panel. With a cover that is divided into smaller panels, it is easier to adjust the curve.

If the fabric is worn out, you can replace only one panel at a time, which gives a much better overall economy.

It is also a better choice from an HSE perspective. The disadvantage is that sieve decks with modules require a larger sieve area than steel cloth.

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Therefore, it is also important to consider other factors:

Assess the capacity of the sieve

It is important to look at and assess the capacity of the visibility when assessing module cloth/decking.

A high-capacity sieve can be converted into a modular deck. However, if visibility is undersized to begin with, perhaps one should not shift over.

An ideal visibility should have a good spread of materials, utilizing the entire visibility.

Nor should one be able to see the actual sieve mat between the material bed until the last rows of the outlet end.

Read also:
The huge difference of the right sieve cloth

Take into account the entire sifting process

It is equally important that you have the correct process both before and after the sifting process, in order to achieve a good result.

One should, among other things. assess water content, fines content, use of the feeder box, to name a few.

3 steps you can follow:

In other words, there are a number of different factors to consider and take into account in the process of selecting sieving cloth.

In conclusion, we have summarized this in some steps you can follow:

1. Assess local conditions and factors

The first thing to do is to consider local conditions.

You might think that what works in one place will also work elsewhere. But that’s often not the case.

There are many factors that can play a role in determining which type of screen fabric works best for your work. For example, consistency and stickiness, humidity, cubicity, type of screen, stroke and machine speed are all local factors that affect the properties of the screen cloth.

Therefore, start by mapping and assessing local conditions.

2. Create a situation and problem description

Get an overview of the situation in your work; where does it stop and what is the problem?

You can take this with you and get help from screen cloth suppliers, who should be familiar enough with their products to be able to assess how well your existing screen cloth works.

Take pictures or video of the sieve/mesh in production, picture/drawing of fabrics with mesh size, during production, stops, etc. That way you can document the status and any issues.

Once you have mapped local conditions and created a situation and problem description with documentation, you are in a better position to move forward in the process of choosing the right screen cloth/cover.

3. Important to test different viewing screens

There are many factors involved in the crushing and screening process, and there is often no single answer. There are simply too many different factors at play.

It will be difficult to find the optimal viewing screen without testing different screens in practice.

“I think many crushers would have been surprised how much difference it can make if they tested different tablecloths,” says Olav Gilje.

He himself has worked in quarries for almost 30 years. The biggest effect he has ever seen is from testing at Rekefjord Stone.

You can read about it here:
The huge difference of the right sieve cloth