I watched some videos on YouTube and saw someone using like a window screen to help dry out their grain quicker and I thought it was a great idea. I was picking up supplies at home depot and I came across a scrap wood pile where all the wood was free from there. So I decided to grab enough lumber to create my very own screen. Here is how I built it:
First take inventory of what you need: 1. The right size wood to make the screen size of your choice. (The free wood at Home Depot and Lowe's tends to be 2'-4'). 2. Wood screws either 3" or 2.5" depending on the width of the wood. 3. Drill bit set or 1/8, a countersink, or a 3/8 forstner. 4. Drill gun with bits that fit well for your screw. Always handy to have a set of multiple bits and not too expensive. 5. Screen material either plastic or aluminum typically 36"x84" or 36"x25'. 6. Staple gun with 1/4" or 1/2" staples. 7. Tape measure to ensure you have the right wood length. 8. Either hand wood saw or a circular saw to make any additional cuts.
Step 1: Lay out your wood, measure it, and decide on how big you want to build you screen. With the free wood I got this time around I am building a 3'x4' screen with 2x3 wood

Step 2: Layout the wood to prepare pre-drilling pilot holes for your screws and counter sinking if necessary.

Step 3: Pre-drill holes for wood screws to make them easier to drill in and prevent splitting. In my case, I used a 3/8 Forstner bit so my 2.5" screw will go farther into the connecting piece of woods. Plus if you really care about the appearance you can use wood filler or plugs to make it look pretty.
 I only do this on the end pieces and if it's not strong enough I will put a diagonal screw attaching the end to the length board.
Step 4: Screw in the wood screws to attach the boards together. sometimes this free wood can be very tough to drill into, ensure you use the right bit that sits perfectly in the screw. If you can get screws with star bits those work even better.


Step 5: Attach the screen material using a staple gun. It requires a lot of staples because you want to make sure it is really tight. Next time I will be getting an electric stapler or possibly a pneumatic if they make one (who can have too many tools?).

Step 6: Attach the top layer structure of wood and you're done! Again pre-drill with 1/8 bit, you could possibly use one size bigger. If you don't have screws long enough either drill it out, use a Forstner, or countersink to ensure the screws go far enough into the other pieces of wood. Must be a solid structure, it can hold a lot of grain. On this one I added a middle beam to help relieve additional stress on the mesh in the middle of the screen.


Step 7 (Will do later tonight or tomorrow): Paint the wood in either Kilz or Plastidip. Kilz maybe overkill but why not add an extra layer of protection (even though the grain will be sterilized). I may even stain them.
As long as you have tools around the house this screen is virtually free. Total parts are $10'ish if you get the screen at Home Depot and wood screws at Walmart. I bet you could find screen on Amazon even cheaper. Considering this wood was reject wood, so bad it was free, they don't look terrible. I hope this will help someone if not it's just another project you can do to kill some time lol.
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