: I put on the first coat of varnish yesterday. I'm using epifane's.
: The directions say to sand with 220 grit after 24 hours and
: re-coat. It's been about 26 hours, and the varnish is dry to the
: touch, but is somewhat tacky still. Do I need to wait until it's
: totaly dry and hard? I've tried sanding with 220 grit, but since
: it's a bit soft yet, it's clogging the paper.

The first coat of varnish applied over epoxy can take up to 3 days to harden. The subsequent coats will then harden in a normal timeframe.
Keep the shop warm and be patient. If it hasn't hardened after 3 days, you could be looking at a compatibility issue. What brand of epoxy did you use?