Panga type.

[Rex Fearnehough]

I intend to build a Panga type boat this winter, probably about 20ft.
So my questions are;
I. What is the best type of jigsaw to use?
There has to be a balance between price
& benefits.
2. Best blades to use to prevent the ply
being damaged.
3. Reasons why I should use marine ply
if I am going to sheath in fibreglass &
or West system?
The reason for the basic questions are,that I rarely use ply & only for basic lash up jobs.
http://boatplans-online.com/prodimages/PG22_150.jpg smile.gif

[ishmael]

Lots of good jigsaws. I have a corded Bosch, but if buying new I might look into some of the battery models. Being free of a cord is a joy. Google up Fine Woodworking or its ilk, and I'll bet you'll find reviews.

Blades with little set in the teeth and lots of them. A good local hardware, or a catalogue, will point you in the right direction. They'll still tear out the face veneer. Scoring the line with a knife is one trick.

Good boats.

P.S. Consider using a handheld circular saw, rather than a jigsaw.

[ 09-22-2005, 10:12 AM: Message edited by: ishmael ]

[paladin]

also...try laying a piece of "masking tape" over the line or area to be sawn....draw your cut line on the tape, remove tape after doing the cut....

[Dave Fleming]

Bosch Barrel Body Jigsaw.

[AngWood]

You'll want a hollow ground blade for that jigsaw.

[Dave Fleming]

Those newish Bosch blades with 20 teeth per inch work very nicely in Finnply-Joubert-Brunzeel plywood panels.

Cuts with the grain direction need no masking tape to keep down edge blowout.

Curved cuts will benefit from the tape and a nice thin scoring of the face side.

[Dave Gray]

I have a heavy duty DeWalt that I like very much. For broad curving sweeps, I use a 5.5" battery operated circular saw - as Ishmael noted, this is very effective in getting smooth cuts where a jigsaw may want to wander. Masking tape is a good idea too....

[ 09-22-2005, 11:50 AM: Message edited by: Dave Gray ]

[kc8pql]

The Bosch jigsaws are great but a circular saw is more usefull. If I had to choose between them I'd go for the circular. You'd be suprised how much of a curve you can cut with one. If cost isn't a big factor, get both.

[Dave Fleming]

"k" good point.

I, in truth, reach for my PC 314 4.5" worm drive circular saw much more often than the Bosch jig saw. With a Tenryu fine blade in the 314 it does yeoman work on ply up to 1 inch thick.

[ishmael]

I don't know what is out there now, but Makita used to make a dandy little battery powered skilsaw. Fine for ply work, maybe a five inch blade, slow rpms, very controllable. I imagine they still do, or something better.

A skilsaw is what you want Rex, for the planks of that panga. You can probably borrow one from a neighbor, and buy a good ply blade. All other advice about scoring and taping taken in. The council has spoken. smile.gif

[Bruce Hooke]

Originally posted by Rex Fearnehough:
3. Reasons why I should use marine ply if I am going to sheath in fibreglass & or West system?1. So that you don't get hard spots in bent areas as a result of voids in the inner plys.

2. So that the plywood does not rot from the inside out as a result of condensation in the voids.

3. So that you can use a lighter weight of glass cloth over the plywood and not have problems with checking (also an issue with douglas fir marine ply, but not an issue with hardwood marine ply or MDO and its relatives).

[wyndham]

Dave Fleming is right as usual, buy a Bosch barrel type, if you absolutely have to buy a jig saw.
I'd spend the money on a good skil saw and invest some time and scrap and really learn to use it. The skil saw is an amazingly versatile and underutilised tool. Fiddle with the blade depth, mess around cutting some curves and heavy stock and you will find that you can build a boat with a skil saw and not much else. I think Payson uses a skil saw to cut curves for his boats with a skil saw.

[Chris Stewart]

Originally posted by Rex Fearnehough:
3. Reasons why I should use marine ply
if I am going to sheath in fibreglass &
or West system?
1. Compared to the total cost of the entire project (boat, motor, trailer) the difference in price between premium marine plywood and whatever else you might use is not that large.

2. No voids in premium marine plywood.

3. Building a boat with fiberglass over junk plywood is still building a boat with junk plywood. Any imperfectly bedded fitting will allow water to get past the fiberglass.

[Nicholas Carey]

Festool TRION jigsaw beats the Bosch hands down. Both available as barrel-body or top handle. I think barrel-body is best.

The Festool TRION has very good integrated dust collection. It has a 'chip guard' to prevent tear out on the upstroke. And it has a blade stabiliser that prevent blade wander when making a curving cut through thick material.

The Festool TRION jigsaw in the US is US$275.00. The Bosch jigsaw is about US$ 190.00 or so.

As far as actual performance of the saw goes, the Bosch is mostly comparable with the Festool, which outshines the Bosch in the places noted above.

However, there is the not insignificant price difference, although in the UK prices might be different -- Festool is certainly aiming for a particular market niche here in the US.

Amortized over the life of the saw, the price difference isn't large, and I'd argue that the dust collection alone offers value, especially if you have a Festool vacuum cleaner/dust extractor.

[Rick Tyler]

Double post ... so I'll add something.

From the posts on Jacques Merten's website there must have been quite a pent-up demand for panga plans.

[ 09-22-2005, 04:16 PM: Message edited by: Rick Tyler ]

[Rick Tyler]

You're building a 20-foot boat that will last at least 10-20 years. Life is too short to use cheap plywood. I've done both, and I will NEVER build a boat over six feet long with cheap plywood again.

You get a better room in heaven if you build your boat out of nicer materials, too, especially if you add a few bits of varnished mahogany trim.

[Donn]

I have the Bosch 1584, barrel-grip orbital, and I love it. It has an anti-splintering insert, quick-change blades and Coastal Tool lists it at $139.

[ 09-22-2005, 04:46 PM: Message edited by: Donn ]

[StevenBauer]

Watercraft Magazine reviewed the two versions of Bosch jigsaws avilable in the UK. W47: September/October-04 There is a 'pro' version and an 'amateur' version. Not the same as the US version.

Steven

[pipefitter]

You can also take a cheaper jigsaw and make a splinter guard by putting a piece of plexiglass on the plate with a slot in it no larger than the thickness of the blade.Still good practice to score any plywood with a utility knife before cutting as it also helps your eye stay on the line better.