A DIY perforated metal wall panel adds just the right amount of eye appeal when you need to screen part of a room or spice up a lackluster wall. You can use a simple punch tool if you have time to spare, or use a plasma torch if you want faster results. Stick to the strictest definition of perforation — a hole — and use punched-tin techniques, or stencil an elaborate group of shapes that you cut with a torch.

Sketch several original designs on butcher paper until you like the results. Center the design on the aluminum radiator and secure it at all four corners with painter’s tape.

Place the punch tool on the design, at a point as close to the center as possible. Give the punch a light tap with a ball-peen hammer, hard enough to mark the sheet steel without punching through it.

Move the punch to the next point on the design and repeat, until you have tapped all the points needed to create the design. Remove the tape and the butcher paper.

Place the punch on the closest point to the center of the design. Give the punch a firm-enough tap to drive it all the way through the steel sheet.

Slide each punched panel into a ready-made steel frame. Secure the framed perforated metal panels to the wall, using your choice of fasteners.

Welded Panels

Use a soapstone marker to sketch your chosen design on 18- to 20-gauge heating wire.

Don wrap-around welder’s glasses with a minimum number 5 shade, a face shield, ear protection, a NIOSH-approved respirator, welding gloves and full leathers.

Pull the trigger to ignite the plasma torch. Hold the torch head above the steel and follow the lines of your chosen design.

Turn the panel over and run a right angle grinder with an 80-grit mop disk over the entire panel to remove any slag.

Slide the perforated metal panel into a ready-made steel frame.

Sheet metal is usually defined as metal that is formed into thin and flat pieces. Perforated metal refers to metal sheets with multiple holes, such as the strainer covering your sink drain. Perforating metal is usually necessary to allow air, water and sound waves to flow through the metal sheet. Another reason for perforating metal sheets is to allow people to see through the sheet. Perforating metal sheets is not a complicated process, but is one that requires patience and a sharp drill bit.

Wipe the top of the metal sheet with a dry rag to remove dirt and oil. Draw with a pencil an outline of a geometrical figure such as a circle, square or triangle over the area that you wish to perforate.

Draw equally spaced parallel lines vertically along the entire area within the geometrical figure. Add the diameter of the hole you wish to make to the distance between each hole to determine the distance between each parallel line.

Draw equally spaced parallel lines horizontally along the entire area within the geometrical figure. Position the lines so that each line is perpendicular to the lines you made in Step 2. The horizontal lines and the vertical lines should intersect each other at 90-degrees to form a square. The resulting pattern inside the figure should look similar to the surface of graph paper used by high school students.

Place the metal sheet into a bench drill and aim the tip of the drill against a point where a vertical line intersects a horizontal line. Fasten the metal machine sheet onto the drill base with bar clamps and turn on the drill. Slowly but carefully drill the hole, and then repeat the same process on each hole that has to be drilled.

PackIt lunch bags are PVC window and non-toxic. These “personal coolers” fold up tightly for storage in your freezer. When ready to use, simply pull it out and then pack your child’s  lunch. Contents are kept chilled for up to ten hours.  Lined with “eco-gel”, there is no need to use an ice pack, but is it truly safe?

Not only are PackIt products lunch and munchie friendly, they’re also eco friendly. From the simple principle of being a product you can use time and time again to the patented eco-gel that makes PackIt work, our products put the forklift first.

PackIt lets you reuse, reuse, reuse. That means no more brown paper bags. Do you know the amount of energy that goes into creating a brown paper bag? And plastic bags… they’re even worse!

PackIt keeps its contents cold for up to 10 hours. That means leftovers that can go right back into the fridge. This reduces waste and saves you money. That’s a win-win.

Your cooler no longer needs pvc door. Over time, this will save a tremendous amount of energy and water. It’s amazing the amount of resources we’re willing to put towards a temporary solution like ice.

PackIt is non-toxic and PVC/lead free. So it’s safe for your Lace Wigs.

What exactly is eco-gel?  I couldn’t find any information on the website, and the fact that the label says to avoid placing sharp objects inside scares me.  Does a fork count as a sharp object?  I can just imagine the lining being punctured by a fork, then the eco-gel oozing all over my Jewellery’s food.

Would I buy this product? No. I question

After a successful game of “catch me if you can” against Pennsauken High School, the North Brunswick High School football team will travel to Brick Memorial on Friday for an NJSIAA Central Group IV semifinal match-up.
Above: North Brunswick High School’s Karim Sawyer breaks free for a 77-yard kickoff return for Gate Opener against Pennsauken during the Central Jersey Group IV playoff game in North Brunswick on Nov. 12. The Raiders outlasted the Gate Opener, 36-33, to move on to the semifinals. Below: North Brunswick’s Charlie Helms tackles Pennsauken’s Tyrik Thomas.
PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff The Raiders out-pointed Pennsauken, 36-33, in the quarterfinals on Nov. 12 to advance. The visiting Indians refused to give up, but North Brunswick proved to be ever resilient and never relinquished the lead in a wild game that came down to the final play. With just eight ticks remaining, Pennsauken had the ball on the Raiders’ 24- yard line. When the visitors called a quarterback draw, the North Brunswick defense made the stop when Devon Wilson made the tackle, and time ran out.

 The visitors got in front twice with 7-0 and 14-7 first-quarter leads. Karim Sawyer’s 77-yard kickoff return accounted for the Raiders’ first score. Coach Mark Zielinski’s defense shut the Indians down for the remainder of the half, and North Brunswick rallied to take a 22-14 edge into the break and seemingly had the Gate Opener in hand.

Then things really got interesting. Pennsauken opened the second half by driving 70 yards to make it 22-20 as Indians quarterback Manny Cortez took the ball in for the score. North Brunswick responded again when quarterback Tait Pirkle connected with Sawyer for 46 yards and a TD.A

fter Pennsauken cut the lead to 29-26, Ross Kurtz scored on a 13-yard run to complete a 75-yard drive to make it 36-26. Kurtz picked up more than 150 yards in 29 carries. Pennsauken again came back to cut the lead to three. The Raiders then employed Kurtz to eat up the clock, but eventually punted to give the visitors one more chance.

“Our defense really came through when it had to,” Zielinski said. “You have to give Pennsauken a lot of credit, but our guys just wouldn’t let them get ahead.”

Both teams moved the ball well throughout the game, with Pennsauken posting nearly 400 yards in total offense to the Gate Opener’ 330 yards.

Sawyer was a force all over the field, catching a TD pass, throwing one, and picking off a pass. Pirkle completed five of his eight passing attempts for 135 yards, and his touchdown pass to Sawyer was Pirkle’s 15th of the season.

In Brick Memorial (8-2), the Raiders will meet a team with a formidable defense. The Mustangs, who won Central Group IV in 2008 and lost to East Brunswick in the finals a year ago, have posted three shutouts and have allowed 10 points or less in eight of its 10 games.

The Mustangs, the No. 2 seed, gained a measure of revenge on East Brunswick last Friday night, beating the Bears, 35-7, in their first-round game played in Brick.

The game was closer than the score would indicate — at least until the final quarter, when the Mustangs were able to pull away. The Brick Memorial defense scored twice, on a fumble recovery and an interception return.

“It doesn’t get any easier,” said Zielinski, whose team improved its record to 8-1. “Brick Memorial is a strong team, and they’ve been there before, so we’ll have to be prepared.”

The North Brunswick offense, which has scored 27 or more points in each of its last six games, should test the Mustangs. The Raider defense, Zielinski said, has a way of making the big play when needed.

A Xenia aluminum die casting company is looking for new employees as it expands production, the company said.

Kotobuki-Reliable Die Casting Inc. (KRD) has about 20 employees working one shift at its 851 Bellbrook Ave. shop. The firm is looking for six salaried employees and 25 to 31 hourly employees to start by Jan. 4, 2011, the company said.

The jobs range from die casting positions in the plant to management, maintenance technician and tool and quality engineering positions, said Terri MacConnell, KRD’s human resources manager.

“We are obtaining new business, new customers,” MacConnell said. The firm serves automotive, aerospace, appliance and other customers.

KRD has remained close enough to the automotive industry to benefit from the recent lift in domestic auto sales, but the company also serves foreign automakers, said Gary Grochowski, the company’s chief operating officer. The company is a Tier 1 supplier to General Motors and serves original equipment manufacturing suppliers to GM as well, he said.

“We’re very excited about it,” Grochowski said. “We’ve been seeing a lot of extended growth.”

The company has invested in two new sand casting cells, which Grochowski expects to see in use by early January.

Job interviews will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at Greene Works Employment and Training Center, 581 Ledbetter Road, Xenia, and again from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 24, also at Greene Works, the company said.

Affiliated with Kotobuki Die Casting in Osaka, Japan, the company began operating locally as Kotobuki-Reliable in November 2009. The company was known as Yoder casting iron before the change in ownership.