EPS Stringer preference -- Wood or PVC?

Are there not issues about epoxy sticking to pvc? Thanks

To paraphrase Mr. Loehr: “water and wood do not work well together.”

PVC is a joy to handplane. Not sure about PVC and epoxy interactions but the overall epoxy/glass matrix is super strong.

The worse case is you have too many choices but that also excites a lot of people.

Geoff Rasche uses pvc for anything under 8’, wood for anything over. I think that’s a good place to start, at least.

All our team guys prefered PVC. Better flex and it doesn’t wear out like wood. Better shear strength by far. Also get wood wet and it’s useless. Bonding to the foam was done with a special waterproof melamine glue. Epoxy has always seemed an adaquate bond to the stringer. Never had a problem.

greg, do you guys use solid pvc or something else like this sintra stuff

from the site: Sintra: Material is closed-cell, expanded plastic, high-density poly vinylchloride sheet. It is acid free and has minimal out gassing for Archival use. Sintra is a homogeneous material that allows the ease of cutting without regard for grain. At half the weight of solid PVC, may be stapled, nailed, riveted, glued, and thermoformed. Forming may be done on conventional forming machines. Because this material is not hydroscopic, it needs no drying pre-forming. It is available in 9 thickness’ 1mm-13mm all thickness’ are available in white, some thickness’ are also available in black & colors.

anyone know how this works as stringer material?

That does work fine, we’ve used it. We’ve used others as well. Sintra is light.