Hi Pete, I think most epoxy manufacturers make a "fast" or "cold cure" hardener for their resins. The caveat with this stuff is that it does form an amine blush when curing, so you must, must, must wash it well before applying varnish, or (if you wait for it to fully cure) before applying subsequent layers of epoxy.

I built the hull of my Chesapeake in 30-40*F temperatures. The Raka Very Fast hardener wasn't ":hot" enough to cure fully in this weather, so I still had to use heat lamps and heaters to get it to cure. 25* is pretty damn cold! I'd get some tarps and ceramic heaters on hand to make curing go less slowly. A cold cure hardener will set up in this cold of weather, but it could still take days rather than hours to even get "can't-dent-it-with-a-fingernail" hard.

Using cold cure epoxy isn't really a short cut that will diminish the finished product. It will work just fine by itself in 40-60 degree weather, but colder than that, it will take forever to set up. (It will eventually come to full strength, but at a cost of waiting a looonng time!)

Disclaimer: The author of this statement is not responsible for hypothermia incurred while building in colder weather. ;) *chuckle*

Shawn

> Hi folks [and Lee and Shawn and Ian],

> Ive been doing "grocery shopping" for exp single project. In
> schades book he mentions an epoxy specially made to cure quickly
> [relatively]in cold temperatures. Does anyone have any experience here
> with this poduct? I'll be epoxying in 40 to 25 degree weather. It sounds
> good but I'm leary of short cuts [and NEGLIGENT Guides!].

> Best,

> Pete