The jigsaw is a tool I'm not too big on...mainly because I have rarely if ever really needed one, and also because I've mainly used the cheap cruddy kind.
A friend of mine has a Bosch which I used a couple of times a few years ago, and it was all right...but I wasn't too incredibly knocked out. Seemed a tad bit delicate to me, actually.
My jigsaw is a real joke, the same cruddy little avacado-green Black-n-Decker pecker wrecker that I bought with my saved up allowance when I was about Jessie's age! Went for a long walk downtown after school and bought it at the hardware store on sale for a whole 6.99, if I remember correctly. I'd seen a magazine article where someone was making these cool wooden jigsaw puzzles, and I wanted to do it, too, after all! Mother'd have liked to wring my neck, and Dad was sort of unhinged by the whole thing I think...but when he saw my attempt at a really awfully done plywood puzzle that I'd worked on in the basement all the next afternoon (when my saw was discovered!) and that I still had all my digits and the workbench hadn't gotten cut, they let me keep it. Still have the pile of crap. Runs too fast, sloppy chuck, really hard to cut anything accurately at all. I'd blame it on having been used to cut lots of fiberglass and lightweight aluminum plate over time, but a buddy of mine has an identical one and it's just as awful.
Anyway, on the job I've been working the guy has a Porter-Cable. Pretty big, pretty heavy, but I was very very impressed when I used it. Man, does it have power...and the control is excellent. This will definitely be my next tool purchase, as I'm going to have to cut bulkheads that would be too large to swing on even my old 20" Delta bandsaw if it was still with me.
Really nice tool. Like a lot of things, I've seen some excellent deals now and again on the "factory reconditioned" plan, and I'm gonna start looking for one ASAP...definitely my next tool purchase.
I always like to get a chance to be 'hands on' with a given toll before I buy if I can...seems like even guys who are very good in their trades and who are very frank about what works and what doesn't have markedly different definitions of what makes it good and what doesn't, so it's great to have an opportunity to try it out first hand. The only thing that might be a detriment about this particular tool is the length of the body and shoe (mainly the body) if trying to swing in tight space. Seems to my memory that the Bosch was a bit more compact. Still, for what I'll be doing I won't be cutting in close quarters anyway...and if the project goes well I'll be selling off nearly all my tools not too long after the end of it anyhow, including the new jigsaw!
Another tool I have been considering is a pneumatic "body saw" as a good take-it-outta-the-boat sort of thing. Much smaller in size than a sawzall and plenty efficient. Of course, they do tend to rip thru the blades along with the work, and there is that big issue of cost for a good one. I think if I were going to be doing many boats, though, and were going to be doing them in a shop or boat barn I'd be getting one without question.
Dave