lexan or Plexiglas for soundboards?

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Don Mannino wrote:

> Alternate materials have been tried for soundboards, but so far not successfully. Perhaps Del will comment. I am sure that it can be done, but I imagine doing it right would be too expensive to justify it - yet.
>
> Lexan is most likely not stiff enough in relation to its mass to work well. Thinned and stiffened with something else, though, it might work.

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Ron covered most of it pretty well.  Both Lexan and Plexiglas are much too massive for their stiffness for use as a piano soundboard panel.  There are some other composite materials that probably will work quite well, but these are not among them.

Right now, marketing factors are probably the greatest impediment to developing new soundboard materials.

Del