: I don't like the idea of mechanical fasteners for a couple reasons,
: they do indeed reduce the section area of the stringers and the
: screws/nails have very poor holding power in edge grain plywood.

: Lashing isn't all that hard to do nor really all that time
: consuming, a groove in the face of the stringer will hide the
: cord, the drilled hole has the same problem as using a
: mechanical fastener.

: I epoxy them in place, takes a bit longer to let the thickened
: epoxy set up, but it works and I've not had any failures (in
: uncoated wood).

: Bill H.

Bill, for my own information, how strong and flexible does the frame-to-stringer joint have to be? Flexibility requirement probably depends on how heavy the frame is - a heavier frame would need to have more rigid joints to distribute stresses whereas a lighter frame would need the flexibility to absorb shocks.

I imagine lashing is more than enough, and flexible too, but it sounds a bit fiddley and rough on (my arthritic) hands.

Screws would be fast with immediate hold, but I can see then working loose with the flexing of such an open structure.

As for nailing, all the hammering is going to disturb the previous joints IMHO.

Joint area is not enough to do the job with glue: it would need around x10 area I suspect to prevent joint failure because the joint would not flex.

Oh for a really long Pop rivet . . .