: My Tom Yost designed SOF is ready for skinning with nylon fabric from George
: Dyson, but I cannot find a hot knife except in the $125 range. I tried
: cutting a piece of the nylon with scissors to see if it would fray, and it
: sure does!
: I would wish to not buy a hot knife at this time and cannot find one to rent.
: Anyone out there have any suggestions how to best cut this material without
: fraying? I am using the Skinboat School's technique that Dave Gentry
: advised to skin this kayak.
: Thanks for any advice,
: Kyle H.

Kyle,

I use a soldering iron. I started out using a 15W iron I've used for years for electronics and such but it didn't get hot enough. I got a 40W unit from Ace Hardware and thinned the edge to a knif edge in the belt sander. It works pretty good.

I see now thAT Home Depot is carrying a pistol grip unit in the 60-85W range for about $20 and I've been debating getting one. It comes with knife edgfe tips and all you'd need.

Jim