���Also, if I do need 2 more coats on interior and exterior do I need to sand between coats? Manual says to just roll on another coat

Are all the pits gone? Is it smooth and fair? If the answer to these questions is yes, you're ready to varnish.

Laszlo

���I would consider the finish close to an orange peel look. Its not pristine. Im not sure what I can get away with on the finish. Im not looking to make a perfect boat. Is it wise to sand between coats even though it doesnt say to do so in manual? I was thinking that 1 coat of epoxy would be wise to seal any nooks that were made after assembly. Appreciate the help!!

If it's orange peel, you're not ready to varnish yet, unless you're going for a workboat finish. if that's the case, I'd suggest paint instead of varnish.

You can't sand epoxy until it's fully cured, Well, you can but it doesn't work. It gums up the paper and leaves little sticky balls of epoxy everywhere. So, if you're going to sand, you need to wait until sanding produces dust, not sticky balls. Once you've waited that long, you pretty much have to sand for the next coat to stick well.

To sum up:

1. If it's an orange peel finish and you want a good-looking varnish job, add more epoxy, wait for it to cure and sand it smooth. Repeat until the orange peel and all the low spots (the areas that stay shiny after sanding) go away.

2 If you're adding epoxy coats, sand if the previous coat is fully cured, otherwise go ahead and add epoxy without sanding.

3. Fully cured is when you can no longer dent it with a thumb nail and sanding produces fine dry dust instead of sticky balls of epoxy that gum up the paper.

Good luck,

Laszlo

���Thanks Laszlo

I am using West System epoxy, and find that after allowing 24 hours to cure, there is what I take to be a bit of amine bloom (the surface is a bit cloudy and feels a bit waxy to the touch)  If I try to sand at this point, my paper soon clogs up with islands of waxy deposit, so I have been washing with warm water (plus laundry soap) and then rinsing, and drying.  Then when I sand, only dust is generated.  I am working in a warm humid coastal environment (Australia), and I suspect that I will need to do the washing trick at every stage between coats.  The West manual suggests painting another coat when the surface has not cured and is tacky, and before the amine is expressed, but I'm not sure how that would work if I try to sand between coats.

I guess I am just musing here, but would welcome any wisdom anyone can offer

Andrew