: What is a good way to recess the entire hatch lip about 1/8" to allow
: the hatch to sit flush to the deck with a gasket in place? I plan to make
: a hatch lip from glass cloth as described by Vaclav. Vaclav makes a recess
: in the hatch lip for the gasket but I've also seen pictures of the gasket
: attached to the cover that fits against a flat lip. Ken Katz made
: reference to this in his post about improved hatch gaskets.

: I know I've seen this described somewhere before but don't remember where.

This is how I did it but there may be an easier way. I would definitely consider recessing the channel for the gasket as Vaclav does, it seems like you might have more consistent results.
Deck is glassed both sides, hatches are cut out. Support the deck up side down in cradles so it won't move, then put the hatches in the cutouts and fix them in place. I used duct tape and blocks of wood to support it. The inside of the hatch should be 1/8 inch higher if that's the recess you want depending on what thickness gasket you want. I used self-adhesive plastic sheet (for shelves) to cover the whole area but you want something which will conform well at the hatch edge, maybe plastic packaging tape would be better. I used strips of glass to make the hatch lip, maybe 6 thicknesses of 6 oz, then a sheet of plastic over the whole thing which is carefully smoothed out. I piled about 20 or 30 lbs of sand over the plastic to hold it down. On my first attempt I didn't support the hatch well enough and the weight of the sand moved it a bit, make sure it's well supported. The plastic shelf covering did not conform to tightly to the 90 degree edge of the hatch (the 1/8 inch sticking up) so there was a small gap between the underside of the deck and the lip which I filled with thickened epoxy when I glued the lip in place, wipe it with a gloved finger to a smooth radius. I also had to fill a few spots where weave of cloth showed.
Jim