how about these for stators?

[ultrachrome]

Perforated Metal Grill Pair

[SY]

1/4" holes are a bit big, but if the % open area works out ok, there's no reason not to use them that I can see. The per square foot price seems OK compared to the perf metal sheets at McMaster-Carr; a 36"x40" sheet of 18 gauge perf steel with 0.125" holes runs about $45 at McMaster.

[Brian Beck]

These will probably work OK to generate electrostatic fields and open enough to pass sound. My concern with any flat metal stator screen is mechanical rigidity. The sound-making diaphragm is pushed and pulled by the stators’ voltages. So the stators feel the same forces and can move too. If the stators are floppy and resonant, then these characteristics will be superimposed on the sound, since moving stators will change the forces on the diaphragm. This is why some people use curved stators (think ML), while others have used plastic egg crates as support (Quad, DIYers). A simple but inexact test is to tap the stator material with your knuckles or something like a screw driver handle (essentially stimulating it with an impulse) and listen to it and feel the response. Does it vibrate and buzz? Does it flop around easily? Does it produce an audible ringing pitch in response to the impulse? When mounted in a frame it will likely be better behaved, and should be checked that way too. Whatever you hear with this simple test will be superimposed on the music down the road. Carefully chosen resonances and damping of the stator (and frames) are extremely important to making ESLs with smooth response.