Raschel Net: Types, Mesh, Yarn and How the Machine Sets Them
A raschel net is net fabric knitted on a raschel machine, and one machine platform sits behind a wide spread of it: construction safety and scaffold netting, shade and greenhouse net, anti-bird and anti-insect net, wind protection netting, mosquito net and packing net. What separates one from another is mesh geometry, net weight and yarn, with the lapping on the machine turning those three into an actual opening.
This page reads the net first and the machine second. If you are already choosing equipment for building-site netting specifically, our guide to the raschel construction net machine covers gauge, guide bars and width for that case. For where the platform sits among warp knitting equipment in general, see warp knitting machine types and the raschel warp knitting machine family page.
The net types that come off one platform
Machine builder category pages list the same raschel net platform behind all the products below. Same family, different setups, which is why the phrase raschel net machine on a quotation is not yet a specification.
| Net type | Fix first | Where the risk sits |
|---|---|---|
| Scaffold and debris containment | Net weight band, panel width, edge finishing | Width converting badly into saleable panels |
| Fall arrest and safety netting | Mesh geometry, yarn grade, weight consistency | Fabric spec is set by the buyer’s standard, not by the machine |
| Shade and greenhouse net | Mesh density under the chosen lapping, output per hour | Speed claims quoted without lapping or efficiency |
| Anti-insect and anti-bird net | Fine mesh count, gauge headroom, yarn fineness | Expecting gauge alone to deliver the mesh count |
| Packing and mosquito net | Change-over time between patterns, guide bar count | Long-run economics assumed for a short-run program |
If you knit one net type in long runs, then width, uptime and yarn handling dominate, and a modest guide bar count is enough. If you switch net types every few weeks, then guide bar count and change-over time matter more than peak speed, because the machine spends a measurable share of the month not knitting.
This conditional does not apply to fishing net or geogrid programs. Those lines carry their own demands, and we treat them separately in our notes on the fishing net warp knitting machine and the geogrid warp knitting machine.
Three numbers that define a raschel net
Mesh opening, net weight and yarn. Write them down before any machine conversation starts, because everything downstream is decided by them.
Weight and mesh count are how netting is actually traded. Safety netting is commonly offered around 55 to 150 GSM in PE, and fine-mesh HDPE grades are quoted by mesh count; 2000 mesh per 100 square centimetres is a figure that shows up in market listings. Those are fabric specifications, not machine ratings, but they are exactly the constraint the machine has to satisfy, so they belong at the top of an enquiry and not at the bottom.
On yarn, single needle bed raschel net machines are built around monofilament, meaning mono or round yarn, in nylon, PE and PP. If your program also involves tape yarn or fibrillated yarn, put that on the table early. It sits outside the mainstream configuration for this line, so treat it as a question for the builder, not an assumption you carry into the quotation.
Why gauge alone does not give you the mesh
Raschel gauge was historically written as needles per two inches. Current practice uses E gauge, needles per inch, spanning roughly E1 to E32. That number sets needle spacing across the bed, which caps how fine a wale pitch the machine can knit.
It does not set mesh size. The opening comes out of the lapping: how many wales and courses the pattern spends per hole, running on top of that needle spacing. A published example makes the point. Trade press describes a high-speed raschel shade and net machine at E6 gauge with full threading that produced about 3.5 meshes per centimetre under standard lappings. Coarse gauge, fine mesh count; the pattern did that work. Read those figures as an industry reference point for one third-party machine, not as a Grand Star rating.
The practical consequence: a quotation that names only a gauge has told you about the needle bed and nothing about the net. Ask for gauge, threading (full or part), guide bar count and the lapping the mesh figure was measured under, together, or the numbers do not compare across builders.
Working width is not finished net width
The same trade press reference lists 264 inches of working width. That is a machine dimension, and it converts into saleable net only once three things are settled: how many panels sit across the bed, how the selvedges are formed and finished, and whether the width you were quoted is measured at the needle bed or after finishing.
Two mills buying the same working width can end up with different usable output simply because one runs a single wide net and the other runs several narrower panels with edge treatment between them. Ask for the panel layout that produced the output figure in the quotation, not just the headline width.
From courses per minute to metres of net per hour
An honest output number carries its assumptions with it. The reference machine above is quoted at up to 1,200 courses per minute, about 3.5 meshes per centimetre under standard lappings, and roughly 165 metres per hour at 80 percent efficiency. Notice the distance between the headline speed and the quoted output: the 165 m/h figure already absorbs the lapping and an efficiency haircut, and it is that second number that resembles what a shift produces.
So the chain runs: courses per minute, then how many courses the pattern spends per centimetre of net, then an efficiency factor for creel changes, stops and repairs. Any output claim missing one of those three links cannot be compared with another builder’s claim. If the efficiency assumption is not stated, assume it is 100 percent and discount it yourself.
Six questions to send with your net sample
- What gauge, and is the quoted mesh figure measured at full threading or part threading?
- Which lapping produced the mesh-per-centimetre number in your data sheet?
- How many guide bars, and how long is a realistic change-over between two of my net patterns?
- Is the working width measured at the needle bed or after finishing, and how many panels does it yield at my net width?
- What efficiency factor sits behind the metres-per-hour figure, and what does it assume about stops?
- Which yarn types has this configuration actually run: monofilament only, or others as well?
A builder who answers all six in writing is quoting a machine. One who answers only the first is quoting a category. Send us the mesh, weight and yarn you need to produce through our contact page and we will work back to the configuration instead of forward from a model number. The group machine range is listed on grandstarcn.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is raschel net?
It is net fabric knitted on a raschel machine. One platform produces construction safety and scaffold netting, shade and greenhouse cloth, anti-bird and anti-insect grades, wind protection, mosquito and packing products. Mesh geometry, weight and yarn are what make one differ from another.
What yarn is raschel net made from?
Single needle bed machines on this line are built around monofilament, meaning mono or round filament, in nylon, PE and PP. Tape or fibrillated material sits outside the mainstream configuration, so raise it with the builder before the quotation instead of assuming it will run.
Does machine gauge decide the mesh size of the net?
No. Gauge fixes needle spacing and caps how fine the wale pitch can be; the opening comes from the lapping. A published example at E6 with full threading still reached about 3.5 meshes per centimetre under standard lappings, so ask for both figures together.
How is raschel net specified when it is sold?
By weight and mesh count. Safety grades are commonly offered around 55 to 150 GSM in PE, and fine HDPE grades are quoted by count, with 2000 per 100 square centimetres appearing in market listings. Those are fabric figures the machine setup has to satisfy.
How do I check an output figure like 165 metres per hour?
Ask what it is built from: courses per minute, the lapping and density behind it, and the efficiency factor. The published reference of roughly 165 is stated at 80 percent efficiency. If a quotation gives no such assumption, treat the number as a ceiling and discount it yourself.
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