I'm going to install a blender into my case but I am a bit concerned about the magnetic field that it generates, being kitty corner to a hard drive and all. I've found countless commercial shielding products, but they're a little out of my price range.

Anyone have any ideas of what kind of material I could use for shielding?

Tin foil, copper ...the stuff in microwave over doors.

Dude, a blender?

I've been carrying this thing around for the past 3 years. Now I'll put it to use.

Should work well with the aquarium. Going for an obnoxious 'Jimmy Buffet in Margaritaville' look.

Copper and Tin, eh? Microwave...

buy a microwave, rip off the door, bust out the duck tape and your done.

or do you want it non ghetto

I don't think a microwave door is going to shield against a magnetic field. Against microwaves yes.

If it were an easy problem there wouldn't be companies out there who's sole purpose is to devise shielding solutions.

Thanks for the ideas so far

maybe highly compressed wood? glass?

well the most basic would be lead thick steal or if you want to get high tech you could cancle out the megenitc field with anotuher magenit but that is quite hard, the easyest way in my mind is go to a junk store and buy some old pc speakers that have shelding built into it and use that. i know my speakers have them but they were expencive enought to put them in

oh yea and water is dence enough to shield agenst it too, all you need is a chemical product or a very dence material

wad about the stuff coffe mugs are made out of [clay?]

It looks like I might have to build a small addition to mount to the bottom of the box. I was talking to a friend and he was of the opinion that the minute I throw the thing on 'frappe' the field will become pretty powerful. Sooooo, the farther the hard drives are the better. Not to mention its going to be a little cramped in there as it is, what with the temp. regulator for the tank, the tank itself, not even including all the goodies that put the 'computer' in 'computer case'

Plus it'll give me more room to install other useless crap

Good lord, what have i gotten myself into

Quote: Originally posted by canadian_divx oh yea and water is dence enough to shield agenst it too...

If thats the case I can just mount them under the fish tank. Just have to design a good gutter system incase of a leak

Lead would most likely still be your best bet. unless you have your heart set on two feet of water around the blender, that is...

Many hard drives themselves are shielded, which helps you out there. my IBM has actually magnetized its own outer case, and then attached itself to the panel of my case. Don't ask me how, but it did. It has my OS on it now, and is in perfect running condition. Once again, don't ask me how.

A better question might be, does the blender emit EM radiation in a large enough amount to matter-i've never had my compass go crazy around a blender-more like a lodestone. I've seen a coffepot in a case, so a blender is certainly a fine idea-and i LOVE Jimmy Buffet, but that's another thread altogether...

If it does (check it with a compass), then thin lead sheeting, such as used for roofing, should do the trick. A single layer should be fine, but you could always put a sheet around the blender and then one around/in the vicinity of the drives-but just remember DO NOT block that port that they tell you not to-unless you're a fan of smoke...

Copper foil is used in the shielding of guitar components, I believe theres some correlation between shielding and conductivity. I don't have any science to back this up, just years of stupid experiments/stunts.
a good way to test materials for shielding capability is to hold a walkman (tape deck) playing near a running microwave. you can hear the buzzing of the radiation quite clearly. then pass material between them.
A buddy of mine swears you can see the microwave's radiation with some video cameras. (like the way they show up infra-red from remotes)
He said "once you see this, you'll never watch your food cook again"

Quote: Originally posted by KayinStorm Lead would most likely still be your best bet. unless you have your heart set on two feet of water around the blender, that is... If it does (check it with a compass), then thin lead sheeting, such as used for roofing, ...

that's my suggestion. i have been planning a mod that would need the shielding as well and that is what i was going to do. working for a roofing company, i have easy access to the lead. We get it from a plumbing suplly house if you have trouble getting a roofer to seel it to you (and you may). ask for a 4" lead boot. if they look at you like you are dumb then i guess you cvan use the official name, a "Lead Vent (plumbing) Stack", but i everyone in the industry that I know of just calls them boots... also, the 4" is the diameter. they are cylenders with both the top and bottom open and one side will have a wide square flange, kind of look like a top hat with a square brim. anyway, a 4" boot may be too big, do the math if you are so inclined or just cut off what you don't need. real lead is extremely soft, we cut it with a boxcutter when we're on the roof.

just remember not to lick your fingers

Looks like I'm off to the Home Despot to get me some more cutting disks and and a boot.

Thanks to everyone who posted their two-cents. I appreciate the help

just make sure to ask for lead boots and not cement shoes