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I have been holding off applying the epoxy fiberglass laminate to the sides and bottom of my Peeler skiff because I cannot hold more than 60 degrees constant in my workshop when the night temps drop into the low thirties. I hate to wait unitl mid march, but if that is what needs to be done for a full cure, so be it. I have thought about focusing shop lights on it, but those will only create hot spots. Anyone have success with the cure at 60 or a little lower?
3 replies:
RE: Room temp for epoxy cure
For the most part I'm able to keep my boatbuilding area between 50º and 60º this time of year.
Tried applying "Slow" when it was in the mid-fifties and the epoxy was still gooey the next day. It was hard, but you could still make a thumbnail impression, by the 48-hour mark. I left the heaters running while we went away for a week over Thanksgiving and it was hard as a rock when we returned.
Since then I've been using "Fast". At these temps it behaves pretty much like "Slow" does at warmer times. The FAQ says I have 15-20 minutes of pot time at 50º - 60º and that's been my experience. At 24 hours you can barely make a thumnail impression. After that, fuggedaboudit. There's no reason to suspect the 4-6 days for full cure isn't correct.
Took a few days off when the Polar Vortex dropped the shop temp into the thirties. Did some epoxy work when the temp got back up to 48º and it turned out fine.
RE: Room temp for epoxy cure
while the room temperature is important....and i think discussed well above, i would also mention that you you can keep your epoxy nice and warm as it is much easier to work with and mix if kept warm.
when i have had to work at the lower part of the range for curing, i always keep the epoxy itself in in the high 70's or low 80 degrees. i just don't keep the epoxy in the garage when it is cold.
my personal experience is that this has helped get a good cure which is accelerated relative to the epoxy actually being maintained/mixed at its lower temperature.
h
RE: Room temp for epoxy cure
» Submitted by spclark - Wed, 2/6/19 » 7:54 AM
https://masepoxies.com/faq/
How large a volume is your workshop?
If too large a space to condition economically you might want to consider ‘tenting’ your project using thin sheet plastic on a conduit or plastic water pipe frame, or whatever else suits your needs. This way you’re conditioning a smaller volume of air which should help your timeline.
The standard MAS components I believe are designed to be fully cured under 55*F conditions though times to full-cure near this lower limit will be extended well beyond what you’d get at 60*F or 70*F. You may want to consider using their fast hardener instead, recommended for 45*F & above, if you can’t get your project space warmed a bit more.