> Hi, I'm using the same epoxy (MAS Cool Cure) and it feels sticky, even
> after two weeks, but it is hard. It hasn't warmed up much more then 45
> degrees but I did heat it up to about 65 for a few hours to see if that
> would help. It felt dry (not sticky) while it was warmer but became sticky
> again after it cooled down. I called MAS and they said they didn't have
> any idea why it was doing that. Has anyone else seen this happen? Any
> ideas? Please e-mail to jim.c.horlacher@tek.com

Jim,

Don't worry about it. Even after epoxy sets it takes some time for it to fully polymerize. The reactions can take a week or more at room temperature, and in your colder conditions it will just take a bit longer.

Putting the boat in a warm place for a while can speed things up.

A reasonably simple method is to make a warming tent. Get a piece of polyethylene plastic ( 4 mil is fine, 2 mil and 3 mil are fine, too) and make a ube out of it which is big enough to cover your boat. The polyethylene comes in rolls of 10 by 25 feet for about $6 at the local hardware store. Use duct tape to make this into a 25 foot long tube. Then use more duct tape to almost seal the ends. Leave a gap of about 2 inches on one end.

In the 2 inch gap, shove a hair dryer, and seal it in with more duct tape. Turn on the hair dryer. It should slowly inflate the cylinder with warm air.

Obviously the smaller the diameter of the cylinder, the better and faster it will fill, so you may want to trim that plastic to about 5 or 6 feet wide, instead of using the entire 10 foot width.

You can keep the hair dryer on for 15 to 20 mnutes and the air inside will be much warmer. If you are lucky you might get it up to 75 or even 80 degrees. It should hold this heat for another hour or so, but it will gradually cool down to ambient temp. So, just go back and turn the thing on again a few times a day.

Be careful to avoid fire hazards. Check carefully that the plastic near the hairdryer is not getting to hot, and NEVER run this unless you stay nearby. Be sure that the blast from the hair dryer is aimed at some vacant spot in the traped airspace, and not directly at your boat. You want to heat the air, not the finish.

If you want to get fancier you can construct a tunnel out of styrene-foam building panels and heat the interior.

Your other option. of course, it to just give it some time.

hope this helps

Paul Jacobson