Reduced poly/catalyst cure time

[Safari]

After a much too long hiatus from my boat project, I'm catching up. Soon, I hopefully will start to apply two layers of 1 1/2 oz mat to my floor and this prompts a question.

I will be working alone and don't want to be concerned about early set up while wetting out the glass. If I reduced the amount of catalyst by 15-20 percent, to slow the cure rate, would that reduce the strength of the layup?

How have some of you folks handled this problem?

Thanks for any comments.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Reduced poly/catalyst cure time

It depends on where you're starting from. If you're currently catalyzing at 2%, then you could reduce the amount by almost 50% and wouldn't have any problems, but if you're at 1.25% now, then I wouldn't recommend going any lower.

At low catalyst levels the resin may still get hard, but it will not be as strong or water resistant as it would be if you used the correct amount.

The best method is to mix up less resin at one time and do smaller areas.

 

[Safari]

Re: Reduced poly/catalyst cure time

Thanks very much. I will follow your suggestion and make smaller batches