Most people shopping for security screens focus on the end result – what it looks like on the door, how strong it is, and what the warranty covers. Fewer people think about what happens in the workshop between the day you approve your quote and the day the installer arrives at your home.
That’s understandable. But for Crimsafe specifically, the manufacturing process is inseparable from the product’s performance. The reason Crimsafe is stronger than anything else on the market isn’t just the materials – it’s the way those materials are assembled, step by deliberate step, using a system that can only be replicated by licensed manufacturers with proprietary tooling and proper training.
This post walks through the full manufacturing process from raw components to finished product – so you understand exactly what you’re investing in, and why the quality of the manufacturer doing the work matters as much as the brand on the label.
First: Where Does the Process Actually Begin?
There’s a common misconception worth clearing up. Crimsafe – the company – does not manufacture finished screens and ship them to customers. What Crimsafe manufactures and distributes exclusively to its licensed network are the core components: the Tensile-Tuff® mesh, the aluminium extrusions, the Screw-Clamp™ hardware, locks and hardware.
Licensed manufacturers – like North Coast Blinds & Security here on the Sunshine Coast – receive those components and fabricate every finished screen from scratch, to the exact dimensions of each individual door or window opening. There is no standard size. There is no off-the-shelf product. Every single screen that leaves our workshop is a one-off, custom-made item built specifically for a specific opening in a specific home.
This is fundamental to understanding why the manufacturing step exists at all – and why it requires skill, training and the right equipment to execute correctly.
Step One: The Measure
Manufacturing a Crimsafe screen begins well before anyone picks up a tool in the workshop. It begins at your home, with a precise measurement of every opening that is going to be fitted.
This isn’t simply a matter of measuring width and height. A thorough site measure assesses the full opening dimensions at multiple points — top, middle and bottom for width, left, centre and right for height – because window and door frames are rarely perfectly square, especially in older Queensland homes. Any out-of-square variation needs to be captured and accounted for in the fabrication, not discovered on installation day.
The measure also captures the fitting type – whether the screen will be reveal-fitted inside the window recess, face-fitted to the outside of the frame, or installed using a build-out frame – as well as the product type, colour selection, locking configuration, and any special requirements for the opening.
All of this information forms the job specification that travels from the sales and measure team directly to the workshop. In a properly run licensed manufacturing operation, the measure is a precision document, not a rough guide – because every cut that follows is made to those numbers.
Step Two: Frame Fabrication — Cutting and Mitring
With the job specification in hand, frame fabrication begins. Crimsafe’s aluminium frames are supplied to licensed manufacturers as extruded aluminium alloy sections – long lengths of precisely profiled extrusion.
The first workshop task is to cut each section to the exact lengths required for the particular screen being made. This is done using precision cutting equipment calibrated to the job measurements. For standard rectangular openings, each section is mitred at the corners – cut at 45 degrees so that the frame members join cleanly and neatly without exposed end grain or gaps at the corners.
The mitring process requires both accuracy and care. A mitre that is even slightly off-angle will produce a corner joint that doesn’t close properly – which creates both an aesthetic problem and, more importantly, a structural weakness in the finished frame. In a security product, corner integrity is critical. Corners are one of the primary stress points when a screen is subjected to impact or jemmy attack, and they must be tight.
Once all four frame sections are cut, they are assembled into the completed rectangular frame -either joined mechanically or, in some configurations, with corner brackets – ready to receive the mesh.
Step Three: The Mesh — What Makes It Exceptional
Before the mesh is installed, it’s worth understanding what it is and why it behaves the way it does under force – because the mesh itself is one of the most engineered components in the system.
Crimsafe’s Tensile-Tuff® mesh is made from 0.9mm diameter 304 structural-grade stainless steel wire strands. At 0.9mm, each wire is 26.5% thicker in cross-section than the 0.8mm wire used by most competing security screen products. This difference was a deliberate engineering decision made when Crimsafe was first developed, and it required a wire products manufacturer to build entirely customised weaving machinery, because no existing equipment was capable of producing this mesh at the required specification.
The wires are woven together in a plain weave pattern — 11 strands per 25.4mm in both warp and weft directions — producing mesh apertures of approximately 1.5mm x 1.5mm. This aperture size is small enough to exclude mosquitoes and most insects, while the open area of 42.7% maintains excellent airflow and visibility.
The critical engineering property of the mesh is its tensile strength. When force is applied, the 304 structural-grade steel elongates and stretches before breaking, absorbing and dispersing the energy rather than failing suddenly at the point of impact.
This is why Crimsafe mesh behaves so differently to cheaper alternatives under real-world attack conditions. The mesh arrives at the licensed manufacturer’s workshop in sheets, pre-manufactured by Crimsafe to their specification. The manufacturer’s job is to cut the mesh to the correct size for each frame and then fasten it correctly.
Step Four: Installing the Mesh — The Screw-Clamp™ Process
This is the most technically demanding step in the manufacturing process, and the one that most directly determines whether the finished screen will perform to its tested specification. It is also the step that requires proprietary tooling and trained skill that is only available within Crimsafe’s licensed network.
Here’s what actually happens:
The mesh is laid into the prepared frame, positioned so that it extends slightly beyond the inner edge of the frame perimeter all the way around. The Screw-Clamp™ strip – a precision-engineered aluminium extrusion with a serrated inner face and a hooked outer profile – is then placed on top of the mesh along each frame member, sandwiching the mesh between the clamp strip and the frame extrusion.
The clamp strip’s hook engages with a corresponding groove in the frame, and the assembly is then driven together and locked using Crimsafe’s tamper-resistant security head screws – driven by proprietary screw drivers bits that are only issued to licensed manufacturers and are not commercially available.
Screw spacing by product tier:
- Crimsafe Regular: screws driven at 125mm intervals around the entire perimeter
- Crimsafe Ultimate: spacing halved to 62.5mm — twice as many fastening points, twice the clamping force
As each screw is driven, it penetrates through the clamp strip, through the mesh, and into the body of the aluminium frame – creating a mechanical connection that physically locks the mesh in position at every fastening point. The serrated faces of the clamp and frame grip the mesh wires, preventing any lateral movement.
A critical detail that protects against corrosion is the Santoprene rubber bead that runs between the mesh and the aluminium components throughout the assembly. Santoprene is a high-performance thermoplastic elastomer that acts as an electrical isolator between the stainless-steel mesh and the aluminium frame – preventing galvanic corrosion, which occurs when dissimilar metals are in direct contact in the presence of moisture. On the Sunshine Coast, where salt-laden coastal air accelerates corrosion, this detail has real longevity implications.
The screw spacing and clamping force must be applied consistently around the entire perimeter of every screen. Inconsistent screw spacing, even slightly, creates uneven stress distribution under impact load and reduces the screen’s ability to perform to its tested specification. This is why the process cannot be approximated and why it requires training rather than simply a set of instructions.
Step Five: Hardware Fitting
With the mesh secured, the frame is fitted with all operating hardware appropriate to the screen type:
Hinged security doors
Three security hinges (top, middle and bottom), triple locking system engaging the frame at three points simultaneously, door closer, and selected lock hardware. The multi-point locking configuration is a requirement of AS5039 for classification as a security door.
Sliding security screens
Rollers, triple locking system engaging the frame at three points simultaneously, selected lock hardware and any appropriate locking mechanism.
Fixed window screens
Designed to be permanently fixed in the reveal or face-fitted to the frame, secured with tamper-resistant installation screws at specified intervals.
Safe-S-Cape® emergency exit windows
The keyless push-lever exit mechanism is fitted to allow rapid egress from inside the building – a critical safety feature – while remaining fully secure against external entry.
Step Six: Quality Checking
Before a finished screen leaves the workshop, it goes through a quality check. In a properly run manufacturing operation, this is a systematic review of the finished product against the job specification and Crimsafe’s manufacturing requirements.
Checks include:
- Overall dimensions match the job specification
- Mesh is correctly seated and uniformly clamped around the entire perimeter
- All screws are fully driven with no gaps or skipped fastening points
- Corner joints are clean and tight
- All hardware is correctly fitted and operates properly
Step Seven: Installation
Manufacturing and installation are treated as a single, continuous process under Crimsafe’s system. The licensed manufacturer who made the screen is responsible for fitting it correctly, and AS5040, the Australian Standard for security screen installation, has its own requirements that must be met.
Installation involves securing the subframe or main frame to the building structure using Crimsafe’s 410 stainless steel tamper-resistant installation screws at specified fixing intervals. The fixing pattern must distribute load correctly into the surrounding structure so that when the screen is subjected to impact force, that force travels from the mesh, through the frame, through the fixings, and into the building structure – rather than pulling the entire screen assembly out of the wall.
After installation, the licensed installer is required to provide written certification confirming the installation meets AS5040. This is a formal document, not a verbal assurance – and it’s something homeowners should routinely ask for and keep.
Why the Manufacturing Process Is the Product
Reading through these steps, a pattern becomes clear: at every stage, the process is designed to eliminate the weak points that allow other security screens to be defeated.
- The woven 0.9mm mesh resists cutting and stabbing
- The Screw-Clamp™ prevents the mesh from being pulled or pried from the frame
- The tamper-resistant screws prevent the fastening system from being disassembled
- The Santoprene bead prevents corrosion at the mesh-frame interface
- The triple locking system prevents the door from being levered open
- The structural fixing to the building prevents the whole assembly from being pulled from the wall
These aren’t independent features – they are an interconnected system. And a system only works as well as its least well-executed component. One skipped screw, one improperly driven fastening point, one incorrectly fitted hinge – and the system’s overall performance is compromised in ways that are not visible from the outside but become apparent when force is applied.
This is why Crimsafe’s licensing model exists. It is not about brand protection. It is about ensuring that every screen carrying the Crimsafe name has been manufactured with the consistency and precision the system requires to perform as tested.
What This Means When You’re Choosing a Supplier
When you’re getting quotes for Crimsafe on the Sunshine Coast, the manufacturing question is worth asking directly. Specifically:
Is the screen manufactured in-house or sourced from another licensee?
A business that manufactures in-house – as North Coast Blinds & Security does – is directly accountable for every step of the process described above. There is no separation between the workshop and the installer.
Who does the installation, and are they trained by the same team that made the screen?
When the person fitting the screen also understands how it was made, installation quality is typically higher – because they know what a correctly manufactured screen should look like and how it should behave.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Crimsafe screens be made by anyone?
No. Crimsafe’s components – including the mesh, frames, Screw-Clamp™ system and proprietary hardware are only available to licensed manufacturers. The tamper-resistant screw drivers required to apply the Screw-Clamp™ are not commercially available and are only issued to licensees. Without those tools, the assembly process cannot be completed.
Why is the mesh always black?
Crimsafe mesh is powder-coated black as part of the manufacturing process. Black is used because the human eye perceives through dark mesh more easily than through lighter-coloured mesh – the darkness of the powder coat makes the mesh visually recede, preserving clear outward views from inside the home. The powder coating also protects the mesh from UV degradation and environmental exposure.
What is Santoprene and why does it matter?
Santoprene is a high-performance thermoplastic rubber used as a bead between the stainless-steel mesh and the aluminium frame components in every Crimsafe product. Its purpose is to prevent galvanic corrosion – the electrochemical reaction that occurs when dissimilar metals (stainless-steel and aluminium) are in direct contact in the presence of moisture. In a coastal environment like the Sunshine Coast, this protection is directly relevant to the long-term integrity of the screen.
What happens if a screw is skipped or incorrectly driven during manufacturing?
Any inconsistency in screw spacing or driving depth creates an uneven distribution of clamping force around the frame perimeter. Under impact load, stress concentrates at the under-fastened sections, which can allow the mesh to separate from the frame at those points – compromising the screen’s performance. This is why trained manufacturers and post-production quality checks are essential.