Perforated metal grills

[vinceb]

I have to make some grills for my kit 61s (my current woofers have been broom-handle magnets :O ), and the typical mdf grills are going to have some issues, since the baffle is relatively narrow there will be diffraction issues, etc. Looking at metal mesh from mcmastercarr.com, are there any issues with hole size, spacing, etc? I'd like to use the bigger .25 holes in the 16 guage so I can weld it. Should I use smaller holes or does it matter at all?

Looking at mcmastercarr.com they have a few that look good to me...
here are some item numbers, they use frames so it's hard to link...

9255T881 .3125" holes, 47% open, 16 guage or
9255T821 .25" holes, 58% open, 16 guage

The idea is to use some steel rod for the sides and bend the perf. steel to stop it resonating, so it is arched toward the listener and is bent along the long dimension, i.e. the top and bottom will be against the cabinet and the middle will bulge out between the drivers. I saw some speakers like that once and it's a different look. Yes the grill will be somewhat industrial looking, that's ok. Any comments or suggestions? Thanks!

[ThomasW]

If they don't have anything greater than a 58% opening my advise would be to use a different approach. You really don't want 42% of the front wave seeing solid steel.

Using an arched front support I think one of their (McMaster) very fine wire meshes would be a better choice. Obviously it couldn't be welded, so epoxy or other similar adhesive would be needed