Sounds like the sides (and ? non-striking surface) can be pretty thick. That would make something with a 20-24" square face pretty heavy. But 1/4 inch might be strong enough for sides and 1/8 inch non-striking to lighten it up. Now I'm worried that an 1/8th inch striking (foot pedal) surface would be destroyed pretty quickly. So either I build with replacement in mind or use something thicker - which might make volume drop below acceptable. I reallydon't want to deal with an amp.