> Started my North Bay between Christmas and New Years, and have been using
> MAS cold cure epoxy and hardener ever since. Other than the standard blush
> problems that you will get with MAS' cold cure material, it's worked out
> well, but I'm not quite finished. I have enough material left, but we're
> having temperatures in the low 100s F. in Maryland, and the stuff cooks so
> quickly now it's unworkable. Anybody know if the standard or slow cure mix
> from MAS --- or even from West --- would work on top of a base of MAS fast
> cure? Is there a chemical or bonding problem in switching manufacturers
> and is there a problem in switching speeds? Or do I have to wait 'til
> October to finish this beast?

> Jack Martin

Before you spend more money on resin, try this trick: Cool your resin, and keep it cool, by mixing it in an icewater bath. It will come up to the ambient temperature after you apply it to the boat, and cure rapidly at that point, so try to just do small areas, and mix small batches of resin. Work in the shade. Set up a tarp as a sunshade if you must.

For the water bath: get a cheap styrofoam cooler, or a big plastic pail. Add an inch or two of ice, and then pour in enough water to get the ice floating. In a few minutes the ice will melt, and it wll keep the water in your bucket or cooler at something under 40 degrees F, or around 3 degrees C. Put your bottles of resin and hardener in this bath and chill the stuff like you would chill a bottle of Champagne. (Come to think of it, epoxy costs more than most American sparkling wines) You dont need to bury the bottle in ice, though. Through a rag or a towel over the top of the bucket to keep down air movement and let the cold water transfer heat out of the bottles of resin and hardener.

Once your raw materials are cool, get your mixing cup, put in half of what you would usually mix, set the cup in the cold water bath and mix as usual. You just have to be careful to not splash water into the mix. To make this simpler, throw another rag over the top of the water and ice. You can make a pocket in the rag that lets the bottom of the mixing cup submerge and stay chilled, but the cloth floating on top of the ice will all but eliminate splashing.

Assuming epoxy could think, what you are doing is tricking the epoxy into thinking it is working at winter temperatures -- which should make it very happy -- until the very moment you surprise it by spreading it out on the boat.

Since the mixed resin generates some heat, which accelerates the cure, when it is held in a container, like that mixing cup, it would normally build up heat rapidly. It doesn't build up so much heat when it is spread out, though. What you are doing is keeping down the heat before it is applied, and increaseing the pot life. After it is applied the time for working it will be shorter, but it will still be cooler than the air temperature for a few minutes, giving you a bit of a break in applying it. Keeping the boat in the shade will reduce the temperature of it a lot, too.

If cooling all the materials in ice water doesn't do the trick for you then the only alternative is to find (and buy) a slower setting material,

Best of luck

Paul G. Jacobson