: Hi everyone,

: I will soon be ready to start working with epoxy on my Waters Dancing Kayak
: kit. It's going to be about 90-95 deg. in my garage but only about 15%
: humidity.

Hey Neighbor, whatchya got an airconditioner in YOUR garage?? Mine has gotten to over 110* out there at times.
What are you doing, seal coat or a glass layer?
Best method I've found is mix the epoxy ( and get it mixed very well ) and just pour it on the work. Spread it out with a roller or squeegie ( I prefer a squeegie, the yellow plastic bondo type ) and then apply a little pressure and get the excess resin off into a cup. It's a judgement call on how much to use if You haven't done it before. I wouldn't make over 4 to 6oz of resin for the first batch or two if you are glassing, or until you get a feel for it. When I covered my canoe last year I dumped a 20oz batch on it and worked it in and had time to run over it two or three times looking for drips.

The reason I say mix and dump is because the epoxy will heat up faster while in a large body, but if you spread it out thin, it lasts much longer. I've gotten as much as two hours working time on some batches this way.
If you are doing saturation coats on the plywood, just mix a couple of oz's and pour it down the length of the panel. Spread it around and squeegie it off. If it gets foamy while you are working, you are working it a bit too much... back and forth. Pull that foam off in a cup and toss it.

How long do you think I will have before the Raka epoxy (127
: & 350) begins to set up? Should I wait until night time when the
: garage is 75 deg. and do all my epoxy work then? I'm new at this stuff and
: would like to have as much time as possible. I have two 8' long 60w
: flourescent lights directly overhead in the garage. If I do the epoxy at
: night, would this be enough light to see all the trouble spots that might
: arise?

You won't have any problems this week, it's windy and the temps are dropping down to the 80's for a couple of days then slowly back up. I used 127/350 as well and I had nearly 50 minutes doing it with the mix/dump/spread method. When you want to do the epoxy, wait till the early evening when the temps are starting to drop ( and you can stand to be in the garage ) then go out and go for it. As long as the temp is dropping you won't get bubbles from in the plywood. Don't leave shiny puddles anywhere as that's too much epoxy and you will either float the glass or end up with runs.

: Also, how long do you think the window is for getting a chemical bond on
: subsequent coats? Don't want to have to sand more than I need to.
You can go about 48 hrs as I recall. You shouldn't have to sand anything if you get rid of the foam and shiny spots on those first couple of coats. "If" you get any runs, wait till the epoxy is in the green state, ( firm but not hard ) and take a scraper and scrape them down. Easier and safer than sanding.

If you need any help, I'm just around the corner.... After work that is... Usually around 5 to 6. If you want my number, let me know... Don't let the nerves get the best of you, it's really quite easy once you see how it works...
Good luck.. and most of all, have fun.....

: Thanks for your advice,
: Ken