***Thanks for all the great information! I think you are right on. I answered your questions within your text below.***

: I'm familiar with System Three regular all purpose resin and their
: slow, medium and fast hardeners.

: When I use regular resin with slow hardener in 85˚+ shop, small, 6
: oz. batches mixed, poured into a roller tray and rolled on with
: a West System roller cover it takes 10 to 12 hours for a tack
: free surface. This long slow set-up allows a very thorough
: wet-out and allows ANY air or bubbles to dissipate.

: This seems much longer than the MAS with a slow hardener set-up
: time. So, that could be the first issue.

: You said you didn't think you would have any excess resin to
: remove. Are you wetting-out the wood and glass at the same time?

***I sealed the wood with a coat of resin first. Left that cure for a day, lightly sanded, vacuumed, and tack clothed prior to any glass fiber cloth.

: If so, there is your problem. The glass may look wet-out but the
: wood could suck up more resin slowly over time , when you walk
: out the door starving the thread tops, which is what it looks
: like in your picture. And of course, you can't see it until you
: add fill coats.

: I apply a seal coat to my bare wood and when this is tack free I
: wet-out the glass separately. This insures no struggle for resin
: between the wood and glass. I apply enough resin to give the
: glass a slight wet look. Next, I go over the wet-out glass
: gently but firmly with a squeegee made of milk carton plastic to
: REMOVE excess resin. This also forces resin into the glass and
: keep the glass from floating on excess resin. This is a very
: important step.

: The white flecks appearing in your photo are definitely threads of
: glass that have not wet-out properly. I've seen this pattern
: most often with old glass cloth. It seems like the coating that
: makes the glass compatible with epoxy has been abraded or worn
: off somehow.

: OR Another problem could be water damage or sweaty hand fouling the
: coating.

: So, I think the potential problems are (1) resin set too fast, (2)
: starved glass /or (3) old or water contamination of the glass
: surface.

: Epoxy starts to thicken the moment you mix in the hardener.

: Are you are mixing batches larger than 6 oz.? This could be the
: problem.

***I am mixing .9 oz batches. That seems to cover about 2'x2'

: Do you immediately pour the epoxy into a flat roller tray? If you
: don't the resin will thicken faster.

***I dispense, weigh, and mix on a plate sized tray. Then use the roller to mop it up.

: Do you roll on resin until the glass looks wet. Give the glass more
: than it needs because it takes a while to wet every twisted
: fiber in the cloth. Then squeegee off the excess for a mat
: consistent surface.

*** I feel I roll on enough. It looks quite wet but not floating. I do roll it around to spread it out growing the area to where I think the area has about the right amount of resin. But I don't squeegee. so I think this will be one thing I will change next time. More resin and squeegee it off.

: If you are not doing the things listed above, my best guess is the
: MAS with slow hardener set too fast at the higher temperature
: and you have starved the glass for resin.

*** If I use MAS again I don't think I will crank up the temp to more than 75 or so and give that a try. I'm game to try a different resin too. I think I will also look further into purchasing the resin and glass from one supplier that can confirm compatibility. I have never heard of that before. I will also seek the help of a dedicated mixer so things go twice as fast. All in all, from 5 feet away it looks great so I'll just let it go and chalk it to experience. I think it should still float fine.

***Thanks again for everyone's help!

: Better luck next time.

: Rob