Synthetic woodwind instrument reed and method for its manufacture

A method for fabricating synthetic woodwind reed blanks comprising the steps of

• sandwiching between a pair of metal plates successive sheets of Teflon (2-5 mils thick), a Teflon coated glass release fabric, graphite reinforced epoxy (7 mils thick), a Teflon coated glass release fabric, a layer of glass cloth, and a layer of Teflon (2-5 mils thick) to form a sandwich assembly,
• confining said sandwiched assembly in an air-tight container,
• evacuating said container to substantially 30 inches of vacuum,
• heating the evacuated container at 300.degree. F. for approximately two hours to cure the graphite reinforced epoxy,
• permitting the sandwich assembly to cool to room temperature (approximately 20.degree. C.),
• removing the graphite reinforced epoxy sheet from the assembly,
• making a plurality of additional graphite reinforced epoxy sheets as described in the preceding steps,
• supporting said graphite reinforced epoxy sheets in substantially parallel spaced relationship opposite each other,
• filing the spaces between said sheets with a low density binder material,
• curing said binder material to form a composite from sheets and binder material, and
• sawing through the composite in planes substantially normal to the broad surfaces of said sheets to form said reed blanks.