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A chain link quotation is mostly fabric and posts until you reach the last line, where one figure covers “fittings”. The hardware list is really two counts: a tension band rail end count at each termination and a loop cap count at each line post. Get those two right and the bolt quantity falls out of them.
Our fittings pages publish both counts in imperial sizes, while the fabric page publishes the mesh in metric — which is where quotations go wrong. Below are the numbers as the pages state them, the arithmetic that does not reconcile, and a worked takeoff you can run against any supplier’s list.
Key Takeaways
- Each fabric end takes one tension bar plus a set of tension bands: 3 sets at 3 to 4 ft, 4 at 5 ft, 5 at 6 ft, 6 at 7 ft, 7 at 8 ft, 9 at 12 ft (per the tension band and tension bar pages).
- Every bar is printed 2 in shorter than the fabric it serves — 70 in of bar for 72 in of fabric at 6 ft.
- Each rail end at a terminal post takes one brace band; a corner takes two brace bands or one 90-degree band.
- One bolt size covers the family: 5/16 x 1-1/4 in carriage bolts appear on tension bands, loop caps and combo rail ends alike.
- The 12-18 in spacing note and the set-count table cannot both be centre-to-centre: at 6 ft, 5 bands at 18 in spans exactly 72 in, while at 4 ft, 3 bands at 18 in spans only 36 in.
What One Termination Consumes
A termination is where the woven fabric stops: an end post, a corner post or a gate post. The tension bar — a 5/8 in wide steel bar — passes down through the last weave of the fabric and the bands, and the bands then clamp that assembly to the post. So the bar count equals the number of fabric ends, never the number of posts.
| Fabric height | Bar length (stated) | Bar in mm | Band sets per end |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 ft (36 in fabric) | 34 in | 864 | 3 |
| 4 ft (48 in fabric) | 46 in | 1168 | 3 |
| 5 ft (60 in fabric) | 58 in | 1473 | 4 |
| 6 ft (72 in fabric) | 70 in | 1778 | 5 |
| 8 ft (96 in fabric) | 94 in | 2388 | 7 |
| 12 ft (144 in fabric) | 142 in | 3607 | 9 |
Two patterns are worth memorising because they catch short shipments. The bar is always 2 in short of the fabric it is listed against, at every height in the table. The pages give no reason for it, so read it as a fit clearance rather than a shortage — and confirm the same 2 in appears on the packing list and on your drawing. And the band count tracks height from 5 ft upward at one set per foot of height, until the 12 ft row, which prints 9 sets where that rule would give 11. Ask which figure the 12 ft line was quoted on.
Spacing Rule Versus Count Table
The tension band page gives a second instruction: two tension bands in the same direction should be spaced 12 to 18 in apart. Two numbers that look interchangeable are not, and a takeoff built from spacing will disagree with a takeoff built from counts. Work it at the wide end of the range, 18 in centre to centre.
| Fabric height | Sets stated | Gaps at 18 in | Span covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 ft (48 in) | 3 | 2 | 36 in |
| 5 ft (60 in) | 4 | 3 | 54 in |
| 6 ft (72 in) | 5 | 4 | 72 in |
| 8 ft (96 in) | 7 | 6 | 108 in |
Among the four heights tabulated above, only at 6 ft do the two rules meet: 5 bands give 4 gaps at 18 in, exactly 72 in. Below that the count leaves the top of the fabric unheld, above it the span overshoots. Then the coincidence returns at both ends of the page’s own range — 3 sets span 36 in at 3 ft, and 9 sets span 144 in at 12 ft. That is the point: no single reading of “spacing” produces all of these rows, so the likeliest explanation is that 12 to 18 in describes the clear gap between bands while the counts already fold the top and bottom positions in. That is an assumption. Put the question to your supplier in writing, because it moves hardware counts by one or two bands per termination — and each band carries a bolt.
Rail Ends, Loop Caps and the Metric-Imperial Split
The top rail needs a cap where it stops and a loop cap where it passes a line post. The loop cap page lists pressed steel for commercial work and aluminium for residential, in post sizes 1-5/8, 2, 2-1/2, 3, 3-1/2 and 4 in, taking round rails of 1-3/8 and 1-5/8 in; the rail end cup listing on the same page runs from 1-3/8 to 2-1/2 in. Our fabric page lists the same family in millimetres: posts and rails at 32, 42, 50, 60, 76 and 89 mm.
| Fittings page (inch) | True mm | Metric list |
|---|---|---|
| 1-5/8 in | 41.3 | 42 mm |
| 2 in | 50.8 | 50 mm |
| 2-1/2 in | 63.5 | 60 mm — 3.5 mm short |
| 3 in | 76.2 | 76 mm |
| 3-1/2 in | 88.9 | 89 mm |
| 4 in | 101.6 | no match listed |
Four of the six sizes map cleanly; 2-1/2 in and 4 in do not. If your drawing calls 4 in terminal posts, ask whether a 101.6 mm band exists before ordering the rail ends to match. The same conversion discipline applies to the fabric: the chain link fabric page states heights from 0.5 m to 6 m and openings listed from 20 x 20 mm up to 100 x 100 mm, while the band and bar pages are entirely in feet and inches. See our chain link gauge and coating breakdown for the wire side of that split.
A Worked Takeoff for a 100 ft Run
Take 100 ft of 6 ft fabric in one straight line: a terminal post at each end and line posts every 10 ft, so nine of them. Fabric ends: two. That is 2 tension bars at 70 in, 2 x 5 = 10 tension bands, and 2 rail ends with one brace band each. Line posts take one loop cap apiece — 9 caps. The bolt question resolves itself: the same 5/16 x 1-1/4 in carriage bolt is listed for tension bands, loop caps and combo rail ends, so one line of 21 fixings — 10 bands, 2 rail ends and 9 caps — covers the run instead of three separate bolt lines.
Corners are where a takeoff goes wrong, because a corner stops the fabric on both legs — two terminations at one post. The band page puts two brace bands, or one 90-degree band, on a corner post for the rails. Add the fabric side and a single 6 ft corner turn costs a second tension bar and a second set of 5 bands, which is 2 bars and 10 bands on that post, plus two rail ends. Total for the straight 100 ft run above, before any corner: 2 tension bars, 10 tension bands, 2 rail ends, 2 brace bands, 9 loop caps — and bolts at 21 on a one-bolt-per-band and one-bolt-per-cap reading. Note what that last figure assumes: the pages list the 5/16 x 1-1/4 in carriage bolt for tension bands, loop caps and rail ends, but publish no bolt quantity or size for brace bands, so confirm that line separately.
Two things the four pages quoted here cannot settle. There is no sleeve or splice quantity published for line posts on these fittings pages, so ask for it against your post spacing. And coating must be named in the same email: the >42 micron hot-dip basis recorded for the outdoor and temporary fencing lines is the number to request here, not the 18-28 micron figure printed on the Australian livestock panel pages, and neither figure appears on the chain link pages themselves. Corrosion behaviour of the fittings is covered in our fittings corrosion guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many tension bands per terminal post?
Per fabric end, by height: 3 sets at 3 to 4 ft, 4 at 5 ft, 5 at 6 ft, 6 at 7 ft, 7 at 8 ft and 9 at 12 ft, per the fittings pages. A post carrying two fabric ends takes two sets.
Why is the tension bar shorter than the fabric?
Every row pairs a bar 2 in shorter than the fabric height it is listed against — 34 in for 36 in, 70 in for 72 in. The pages give no reason for it, so read it as a fit clearance rather than a shortage, and confirm bar length against fabric height on the packing list.
How many brace bands does a corner need?
Two, or one 90-degree brace band, where a straight rail end takes one. That is the stated rule on the tension band page, and it is the reason corner counts are quoted separately from line posts.
Do loop caps and rail ends take the same bolt?
Yes. 5/16 x 1-1/4 in carriage bolts are listed for tension bands, loop caps and combo rail ends, so one bolt line on the order covers three fittings.
Can aluminium loop caps be used on commercial work?
The pages put aluminium in residential use and galvanised pressed steel in commercial, with powder coating in black, brown and green offered on both. Confirm which one your quotation line actually says.
Conclusion
Count terminations, not posts. Two fabric ends, two rail ends and one bolt size carry a straight run, and every corner you add is two more bands or one angled unit. The counts on the pages are usable; the spacing note beside them is what needs pinning down.
Send your height, run length and post spacing, and ask for the hardware list item by item against the numbers above. Quotations come back within 24 hours, and the company publishes a 7-day dispatch claim for stock items — ask whether the hardware lines sit inside it. Either way, these conversion and spacing questions cost a day, not a week.
