Heat the room ahead of time.

Start work when the room is at its warmest.

Do epoxying as the room is cooling down. Working epoxy as the room is cooling, rather than warming will prevent outgassing.

This is the method that was recommended to me and I had no problems throughout my build.

I used a Mr Heater mopunted on a portable propane tank I borrowed from the barbeque. I supplemented with a small ceramic electric heater to slow down cooling of the room after shutting the Mr Heater down.

http://shearwaterkayak.blogspot.com/

Great question.  Fish, I have a Mr. Heater too; only instead of mounting on the propane tank, I attach it to a hose connecting to the tank.  I bought it for working in a small area in my chilly basement in the winter, but I wonder if it will put out enough heat to keep a two car garage warm for my boat work in the winter?   Do you have a one car or two car garage?  I like the idea of the electric heater too but you apparently use it for a slow cooling period rather than for the heat.  I'd like to be able to finish varnishing the interior of my Skerry this winter but am reluctant to try it in the cold weather.  Thoughts?  Thanks.  Bob H.

Yeah Bob, I have a 2 car garage.

The little ceramic heater was not enough to heat the garage up. The Mr Heater does it no problem. I never use the Mr Heater on HIGH, it uses too much fuel that way, lasts forever on low/mid settings and gives off intense heat on any setting.

Side note to Bob H...I would be a little concerned using a propane heater indoors.  CO poisoning and all.  You're breathing the product of combustion.  Garages are fine because they are usually "leaky" enough that the air gets exchanged in the space.  Plus if you open the door to bring in a car...air changes galore.

JerryS

Perhaps they might not provide enough ergs/HP/BTU to heat a very drafty garage, but I always preferred those oil-filled heaters that look like hot water radiators. Good source of relatively non-directional heat, doesn't kick up the dust and no danger of C0/C02 poisoning. At least not in the immediate vicinity.

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Ogata (eric) 

Fish, Jerry and Eric, thanks for your help.  I've not been comfortyable using the propane heater in the basement despite that they say you can do it safely.  You can still smell the fumes and that doesn't bode well for me.  So I think I'll take Fish's tip and bring it to the garage.  I also like the idea of the oil filled heaters, though I wasn't sure how well they worked.  Think I'll try one of those for the basement.  And thanks to What could go wrong for the original post.  This is a great forum.  Best and Happy Turkey to all.  bob h.

I believe you will be very happy with your choice of going to the garage when it comes time to varnish.  You will not believe the strength and persistence of the varnish odors, and will be very happy not to have them permeating the entire house.  Of course if the basement is really an external bomb shelter, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

I am at the varnish phase in my garage and it is amazing how much the vapors get into the house as it is.

Keeping the sawdust out of the house is a good thing too, but the shop-vac can solve that one pretty well.

Thank you everyone for helping. I have decided on the radiant heater because of the convience for me and also to eliminate circulation of particles (especially during the wet work). Fishbuster, thank you for the specific tips on epoxy work. Bob H, good luck and happy Thanksgiving.

WCGW

Something else that occurs to me is that I like light. Lots of light. I got these pretty inexpensive dual 500 watt halogen worklights from the local Home Despot. I got them for the light, but they put out a lot of heat as an ancillary side-effect. Pure radiant heat that doesn't exhaust fumes or stir up dust. Well except for when they explode and catch on fire. Hasn't happened to me yet, but I do worry about it sometimes. Especially when I have a room full of cedar strips and shavings. Burn, baby, burn!

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Ogata (eric) 

My fav heater story is when I borrowed an antique propane heater that was kicking out mucho heat.  I tried to light my handheld torch and it would not light.  I happened to have a second torch on the table.  How often does that happen?  That would not light either.  Quickly turned off my borrowed heater and returned it.

Kim