When it came time to cut out the hatches, after having gotten so far on the boat and not wanting to mess it up, I went jig saw hunting. I had a Black and Decker K-Mart special but knew it would not perform the trick Nick shows in his book.

I ended up with the DeWalt model 318, variable speed with a blade stabilizer ($100 @ Lowes). It worked great. Simply tilted the blade down through the deck. I placed the cut-out pattern on the deck, taped around it with a few layers of 2" masking tape to reduce splintering, and then cut it out. You can see the outline of the pattern through the tape well enough to follow.

With the exception of the fiberglass and epoxy, I found all my tools and materials (including cedar) at the local home building store. They did not have any of the specialty tools in Nick's book, Jananese Razor Saw, Spoke Shave etc.

Dwight

: I need feedback on some quality, inexpensive jig saws (around $100 or less).
: What saws do some of you experienced builders use? I have read lots of
: online reviews, but since I am buying it specifically for kayak building I
: thought this was the best place for opinions. Thanks in advance. Tom Janes