Anti-Static Electric Surfaces

[Alai]

I was planning to put my motherboard/cpu/hsf together on top of my dinner table which is made of wood and then finely polished over with a nice thick finish. It has a surface that looks and feels like marble. I was wondering if someone could tell me if I am in any danger of inducing static electric shock to my mobo. If so, what other surfaces could I used to put together my mobo?

PS I do not have a anti-static pad.

 

[rittia1962]

I think you'd be pretty safe. I almost always put my systems together on wooden surfaces. Wood is a nearly neutral surface.

 

[Michael Daly]

The finish on modern wood products is usually polyurethane - you can probably get a static charge on that if it's dry enough.

The big problem is that any bits of metal on the MB will have the potential to scratch that nice finish. You'd be best off using some kind of protective cover - even a thick towel would be better than nothing if you care about the table. Cover it with layers of newspaper, an old blanket, a proper table pad, whatever, but don't leave it bare unless you don't care about the finish.

As far as protecting the MB goes - get a wrist strap and make sure it's connected to a properly grounded point. That will set you back around $7. It works better than most other options.