shielding with aluminum foil?

[O'malley's Alley]

I have just built something into a plastic enclosure to realize that I do not have any shielding tape.  Could I just shield it with aluminum foil, or would I be better off ordering some sheilding tape?  I wanted to use this pedal asap, so I was just wondering...

[brett]

Alfoil is an excellent shield.  But not very solderable (is that a word?).
Something like a small alligator clip helps to earth it.

cheers

[petemoore]

The Lasange...not bad  :lol:
 Cclean the bottom of the pan, and you have a nice sheet of thick foil to work with. It'll be sharp on edges  
 you'll have to screw the ground to it somehow, I like to strip the insul. off, form a rring of stranded copper, tin the ring, especially the wire ends and form a circle. Stick the screw through that and a washer, then a nut er nut 'n other wahser or wood, but fairly tight.
 I read regular alum foil isn't substantial enough for effective shielding, it doesn't hold shape so well, and it's harder to connect to.
 I got a batch of copper sheeting at the metal salvage yard.

[bwanasonic]

Always fun to figure out what the hell Pete is talking about isn't it? :wink:  :lol:  Have used Heavy-Duty Aluminum foil to shield guitars with good results so I guess it's doable, but that voice in your head saying " I need this pedal NOW" isn't always the best one to listen to. If the pedal is that cool it deserves a decent enclosure.

Kerry M

[O'malley's Alley]

Always fun to figure out what the hell Pete is talking about isn't it? :wink:  :lol:  Have used Heavy-Duty Aluminum foil to shield guitars with good results so I guess it's doable, but that voice in your head saying " I need this pedal NOW" isn't always the best one to listen to. If the pedal is that cool it deserves a decent enclosure.

Kerry M

thing is, the pedals not that cool, but I still do need it.  All it is is a volume pot inside an enclosure..  

[Ge_Whiz]

If it's a metal-body pot and you use screened cable throughout, chances are you won't need to screen the box.

[petemoore]

Shielded wire throughout then.
 That will take care of all the possible shielding.
 The shielding [whatever shielding, all shielding], to be effective, must be connected to ground.
 Stauffers Lasange isn't bad. There is foil that the pan it comes in is made from. This foil has been used successfully as shielding.
 Connect the ground to it using a mechanical method.
 You cannot solder to aluminum.
 If you're haveing trouble reading this, skip over it. :wink:  :oops:

[Gringo]

I've succesfully used aluminum foil as shielding. I got mine from the food trays my grandmother used to send me with, among other stuff, lasagna

[Fret Wire]

I tried the foil a long time ago, and while it works, I didnt want to bother with adhesives, and spot tacking solder on the overlaps. I switched to copper shielding tape with conductive adhesive, and couldn't be happier. Just put it in and overlap slightly, then trim with an exacto. That's it, no soldering the overlaps or anything. For pickguards, however, you'd burn up a lot of tape, so I use whole copper sheets from Michael's (craft store). I spray 3M adhesive on the back, press the entire sheet down, and trim off the excess. Then use an exacto to cut out the pickup, pot, switch, and screw holes. With a whole copper sheet, there's no soldering either. Conductive paint works too, especially in a guitar body where the pickup routs are rough or irregular.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Supplies:_Shielding/Conductive_Copper_Tape.html