Yes,at least that is what I have been using.. Greetings Susanne(SUE)

I built a compost screener using 1x4s and hardware cloth. I used 1/4 inch hardware cloth, but I'll probably replace that with 1/2 inch hardware cloth at some point. I basically just made a frame with the wood that was about the size of my wheelbarrow and stapled the hardware cloth to the wood frame. Originally, I thought I'd sift into the wheelbarrow and use it from there, but I've just been sifting directly on the ground.

This may not be what you want and may be too much work, but we got louvered doors and then put screening on the side of the door that faces in (I used the quick screening stuff at Lowes). Nice thing about the louvered doors is that you can keep them opened at night. Google louvered doors and you will find several manufacturers.

Here is some reference information on meshes that I have found quite useful, minus the formatting. This information is provided on page T848 of the Aldrich 2003-2004 Catalog/Handbook of Fine Chemicals. Sieve Designation Nominal Sieve Opening Standard Mesh Size Inches mm Microns 25.4 mm 1 in. 1.00 25.4 25400 22.6 mm 7/8 in. 0.875 22.6 22600 19.0 mm 3/4 in. 0.750 19.0 19000 16.0 mm 5/8 in. 0.625 16.0 16000 13.5 mm 0.530 in. 0.530 13.5 13500 12.7 mm 1/2 in. 0.500 12.7 12700 11.2 mm 7/16 in. 0.438 11.2 11200 9.51 mm 3/8 in. 0.375 9.51 9510 8.00 mm 5/16 in. 0.312 8.00 8000 6.73 mm 0.265 in. 0.265 6.73 6730 6.35 mm 1/4 in. 0.250 6.35 6350 5.66mm No.3 1/2 0.223 5.66 5660 4.76 mm No. 4 0.187 4.76 4760 4.00 mm No. 5 0.157 4.00 4000 3.36 mm No. 6 0.132 3.36 3360 2.83 mm No. 7 0.111 2.83 2830 2.38 mm No. 8 0.0937 2.38 2380 2.00 mm No. 10 0.0787 2.00 2000 1.68 mm No. 12 0.0661 1.68 1680 1.41 mm No. 14 0.0555 1.41 1410 1.19 mm No. 16 0.0469 1.19 1190 1.00 mm No. 18 0.0394 1.00 1000 841 mm No. 20 0.0331 0.841 841 707 mm No. 25 0.0278 0.707 707 595 mm No. 30 0.0234 0.595 595 500 mm No. 35 0.0197 0.500 500 420 mm No. 40 0.0165 0.420 420 354 mm No. 45 0.0139 0.354 354 297 mm No. 50 0.0117 0.297 297 250 mm No. 60 0.0098 0.250 250 210 mm No. 70 0.0083 0.210 210 177 mm No. 80 0.0070 0.177 177 149 mm No. 100 0.0059 0.149 149 125 mm No. 120 0.0049 0.125 125 105 mm No. 140 0.0041 0.105 105 88 mm No. 170 0.0035 0.088 88 74 mm No. 200 0.0029 0.074 74 63 mm No. 230 0.0025 0.063 63 53 mm No. 270 0.0021 0.053 53 44 mm No. 325 0.0017 0.044 44 37 mm No. 400 0.0015 0.037 37 Larger sieve openings (1 in. to 1/4 in.) have been designated by a sieve "mesh" size that corresponds to the size of the opening in inches. Smaller sieve "mesh" sizes of 3 1/2 to 400 are designated by the number of openings per linear inch in the sieve. The following convention is used to characterize particle size by mesh designation: a "+" before the sieve mesh indicates the particles are retained by the sieve; a "-" before the sieve mesh indicates the particles pass through the sieve; typically 90% or more of the particles will lie within the indicated range. For example, if the particle size of a material is described as -4 +40 mesh, then 90% or more of the material will pass through a 4-mesh sieve (particles smaller than 4.76 mm) and be retained by a 40-mesh sieve (particles larger than 0.420 mm). If a material is described as -40 mesh, then 90% or more of the material will pass through a 40-mesh sieve (particles smaller than 0.420 mm).