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Assuming the concern is shielding from primarily Magnetic (H) fields then non-ferrous metals such as Aluminium (or copper) won't do much. Need a Ferrous material- Steel will help but for real effective shielding you need mu-metal or similar as used on transformers: eg http://cpc.farnell.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&langId=69&urlRequestType=Base&partNumber=TF01455&storeId=10180
Note that there's also a bottom plate included with that shield and closest you can get to continuous shield around the component being shielded is best (obvs you need wires coming in/out 

And don't forget that the correct spelling is 'Aluminium' 

80hinhiding said:

Thanks for the info.  The concern was over general noise/hum that I found in an EQ experiment on the bread board.  It wasn't that bad but when I boosted there was definitely a greater noise floor.  From a passive circuit.  Probably more of a layout issue, I don't know.

It's spelled both ways on the box packaging I have used in the kitchen for years.  I do like the look of the nium spelling, just never pronounced it that way.

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yeah - tracking down noise is difficult - esp on uncased prototyping stuff...Good Luck

Aluminium / Aluminum...yeah I know, I know.  I'm in the UK and work on test kit for the metals industry. Always have the urge to 'correct' our North American friends when they refer to 'Aluminum Alloy Analysis'. Don't get me started on 'Colour' and 'Analogue'  The colonies are getting out of hand - wrong voltage / frequency / 'upside down' switches...

I guess inductors would be good antennas for rfi aswell so copper/amulinuminum foil might do something but wount fix any picking up 50hz mangnetic field from nearby mainstransformers for ex. Try it out and report back.

get a mumetal can and line it with copper,  notice inductor can on back of Pultec?

mu can clan ain't nuthin to mess with,  ;D

haha!!!

Oh baby i like it rolled!

I remember finding an article in wireless world one time about the screening techniques used at RAF Menwith hill ,dated back to the 50's , Rf and magnetic silence was mission critical to what they do there ie trying to pick minute signals out of the ether , several layers separated physically yet grounded together at one point seemed to be what they said , over lapping the each layer yet not forming a one turn coil also seemed part of it ,Steel reinforced concrete ,lead ,copper and mu metal type alloys.
Apparently old oscilloscopes often have a mu metal screen around the crt ,wish I'd realised that as all the scopes I had along the way blew up on me .
I'll get around to cataloging scaning and posting some of the articles from WW at some point ,theres tons of good stuff in there waiting to be re-discovered.

80hinhiding said:

The Mu Can Clan? oh my haha  I must turn on some Wu Tang Clan and see if I remember their music.

Because I couldn't find copper sheet local to me and wanted to experiment I recently took a small piece of copper pipe, cut it in half, hammered it out flat, then bent it into L shape.  A bit of fun.  Not very big mind you but still an option for some things..

What kind of cost is involved with muMetal cans?

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Well 'bashing' copper and soldering it to form enclosures is a time honoured electronics practice 

Mu-metal - well the best way is if you can use transformer enclosures or similar.

It can be quite difficult - and expensive although I have no costs to hand - for an individual to obtain small quantities of it for prototyping etc. 
Also need to consider that there is more than one 'grade' of it in terms of permeability.
Basically (in a handwaving sort of way) a grade with better H-field absorbtion will saturate at lower flux - thereby becoming ineffective. A grade with lower absorbtion (related to permeability) will saturate less easily so remaining effective in a higher H-field.
What this comes down to practically is that you might use a lower permeability type where H-field is high - typically the source of the H-field eg around a mains transformer - and a higher permeability type around the 'victim' eg a pcb circuit compenent. So you gain advantage at both source and victim.
Also - to gain the 'spec sheet performance of mu metal it needs to be annealed (heat treatment) after forming into shape. Obvioulsy not easy for DIY (or professional for that matter unless facilities in place) although it does 'work' without it - just not as well.