How to Choose a Raschel Construction Net Machine: Specs That Matter

August 8, 2026

Choose a raschel construction net machine by working backwards from the net, not forwards from the brochure: the mesh you have to hit, the finished panel width and the yarn system decide the gauge, the guide bar count and the working width you buy. Published listings in this category are almost always a bare spec table with no engineering explanation, so translating a net requirement into those numbers is the whole job.

What follows are the specs that change what the machine can actually produce, and the ones you should treat as questions for the builder rather than settled answers.

Four specs decide what you can knit

Machine listings for construction and safety netting converge on the same configurable axes. The ranges below are what published listings in this class offer today.

Gauge and guide bars are the two that get under-specified. Gauge is fixed at build time and is not something you change between orders, so a shop that quotes both a coarse debris net and a fine mesh is really deciding whether it needs two machines rather than one.

Guide bars are your structural budget. Every reinforcement yarn, every patterned band and every border cord competes for the same two to eight paths, and that arithmetic is easier to do before the order than after.

Start from the standard, not from the spec sheet

Fall-protection netting in Europe is sold against EN 1263-1, which sets the safety requirements and test methods for the net itself. EN 1263-2 governs installation, and published guidance on the standard cites limits such as a maximum fall height of 6 m and a maximum gap of 100 mm between the net and the scaffold.

Note what those documents do and do not cover. They regulate the finished net and how it is hung. There is no published table that maps an EN class or a mesh size onto a machine gauge, so anyone who hands you that mapping from memory is guessing.

The reliable order of work is: get the net specification confirmed first, meaning mesh opening, yarn and energy absorption class, from the test house or the customer. Then hand that specification to the machine builder and ask them to state in writing the gauge and bar configuration that produces it on their machine.

If your product is shade net, greenhouse net, anti-bird net or wind protection net rather than fall-protection net, EN 1263 does not apply and this section drops out entirely. Raschel net lines are positioned across all of those markets, but your driver becomes the mesh and shade factor your buyer specifies.

Yarn system and net structure

Construction and debris netting is commonly made from HDPE, polypropylene or polyester, including PVC-coated variants, in knitted knotless form. Knotless matters on a raschel line because the opening is set by the stitch construction rather than by tied intersections.

The mechanism suits the work. Latch needles working with guide bars and a fall plate handle the coarse monofilament and round filament yarns in nylon, PE and PP that net products use, as set out in the standard engineering overview of raschel machines.

Confirm the yarn count and filament type you will actually run before the gauge is locked. Gauge, yarn diameter and mesh opening move together, and a gauge chosen around one yarn system will not hand you the same opening on another.

What speed claims are worth

High-performance machines in this class are advertised at knitting speeds up to 800 rpm, alongside knotless construction and customisable mesh size. Treat that as a ceiling figure rather than an operating figure.

Ask what gauge, what yarn, what width and what pattern repeat the number was measured on, and whether it still holds with your reinforcement bars threaded. A speed quoted on the simplest possible structure tells you very little about your own output.

Floor space and power

A representative listing gives an installation envelope of roughly 2800 x 1500 x 2100 mm on a 380 V / 50 Hz three-phase supply. Check that against your own building before anything ships.

Check what the figure excludes as well. A machine envelope in a listing typically does not include the creel, beam handling space or maintenance clearance, and those are what actually determine the bay you need to clear.

A conditional shortlist

If your output is EN 1263 fall-protection net against a single customer specification, then buy narrow and specific: one gauge matched to that mesh, the fewest bars that carry your border and reinforcement, and the width that covers the panel with the least trim waste.

If you are quoting a mixed bag of building safety net, scaffold net, shade net and agricultural netting, then guide bar count and width flexibility are worth more to you than top speed, because changeover range is what wins those orders.

If your volume sits in one product at one width, the extra bars are idle capital, and a simpler configuration will run with fewer threading errors and less setup time.

This does not apply where your net is a coated or laminated product finished off the knitting line, or where the mesh is extruded rather than knitted. There the knitting spec is only one part of the specification and the finishing line drives the decision.

What to send the machine builder

A useful enquiry contains the finished mesh opening, the yarn type and count, the finished panel width, the standard the net is sold against, the monthly output you need and your supply voltage. That list lets a builder answer with a gauge, a bar count and a width instead of a catalogue.

If you are still mapping the machine family before you get to numbers, our overview of warp knitting machine types covers where raschel sits, and the fishing net warp knitting machine page shows the same net-forming principle applied to a different mesh and yarn system. For tubular and bag-type net work, the double needle bar raschel machine is the closer relative.

Equipment configuration and enquiries are handled on grandstarcn.com. Send the net specification rather than a machine model, and our engineers will come back with the configuration that produces it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What gauge do I need for a construction safety net?

There is no published table mapping a net standard or a mesh size onto a machine gauge, so it has to be answered on your own yarn. Confirm the mesh opening and yarn in the net specification first, then ask the builder to state the gauge that produces it. Listings in this class offer E3 through E18, and a higher E number gives a finer mesh.

Can one machine make both shade net and building safety net?

Raschel net lines are positioned across shade net, greenhouse, anti-bird, wind protection, building safety net and scaffold net. Whether a single configuration covers all of them depends on whether your mesh openings fall inside one gauge, because gauge is fixed at build time. Ask the builder to confirm against your two most extreme products.

Does the machine itself need to be EN 1263 certified?

EN 1263-1 covers the net and its test methods, and EN 1263-2 covers installation, with published guidance citing limits such as a 6 m maximum fall height and a 100 mm maximum gap between net and scaffold. Conformity is demonstrated by the finished net through testing, not by a certificate attached to the knitting machine.

Is a wider machine always better?

No. Working widths on published listings run 135, 150, 170, 220, 240 and 260 inches, and the right choice is the narrowest one that covers your panel with acceptable trim. Ask for usable width after selvedges rather than the nominal number, since that is what your panel has to fit inside.

What does knotless mean and why do buyers ask for it?

Knotless netting is knitted rather than tied, so the mesh opening is set by the stitch construction instead of by knots. High-performance machines in this class advertise knotless structure together with customisable mesh size.