apparatus for making plastic screen panels , and especially abrasion - resistant mining screens , includes a large rotary screen drum member on which an extruded , profiled cross - section screen surface - forming wire is helically wound at a pitch which will produce the desired screen slot width . immediately adjacent the drum member is a rod - positioning mechanism from which a plurality of screen panel support rods are sequentially fed from a stack and welded to the wires on the drum surface in a direction parallel to the drum axis and transverse to the surface wires . the welding is done with a double - edged heater bar which is temporarily placed in contact with the rod and drum before the rod is forced against the drum . the screen drum is indexed after each support rod is attached to it by an angular amount sufficient to provide the desired spacing on the finished panel . after all the rods are attached to the wire - covered drum , the wires are severed along a line parallel to the drum axis and the now - finished panel is removed and used as is or preferably is cut to form several smaller panels .