I'm about to put the last thin coat of MAS epoxy on my deck to make sure the fiberglass cloth is filled in. How long should I wait for it to completely cure before I can lightly sand it and move to applying coats of varnish. The temps here in the northeast average in the high 70s -80s right now.
I like to wait until the boat is structurally finished and I've had a chance to try it out on the water. That way, if I need to change something I don't have to undo/redo weeks of sanding and varnishing. It doean't hurt anything to take it out a couple of times dressed only in its epoxy underwear.
But, if that makes you uncomfortable, you can try waiting until you cannot dent the epoxy with a thumbnail, then carefully attempt to sand it. If the epoxy comes off as dry dust, you're ready to sand. If it balls up and clogs the paper, you need to wait a bit longer. Based on your temperatures (and assuming slow hardener) I'm guessing 2 to 4 days.
Good luck,
Laszlo
Thanks Laszio! That's just what I needed.