[at-l] wind screen

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 08:10 PM 4/28/2005 -0400, amy wrote:
>Hardware cloth is a wide mesh made out of fairly thick wire.  If I recall 
>correctly the openings are about half an inch wide.  Maybe a quarter of an 
>inch.

Actually hardware cloth mesh is available in both those sizes plus 1/8th 
inch mesh. It is made from stiff wire that is welded where the wires cross 
unlike screening which is woven like cloth. It is galvanized by dipping 
into molten zinc.

Zinc is needed by the body. You get it in many common foods including 
peanut butter but is toxic if you get excess zinc (more than the body can 
use) causing destruction of red blood cells. An animal the size of a dog 
could be seriously affected if it swallowed a penny (pennies aren't all 
copper any more they are copper coated zinc). If the hardware cloth was to 
be used as a pot stand that was not in direct contact with the flame and in 
an open air environment I doubt you would get enough vapors from it to 
create a problem.