The best time and the limited time for the gel coat laminating after spray??
ANSWER:
Our recommendation for laminating on gel coat is as follows:
The minimum time after spraying at which lamination can be begun is the time at which the gel coat film backside can be brushed lightly with a clean, dry finger without leaving residue on the finger. In other words, lamination can begin once the gel coat is firm enough to not be semi-liquid on the back side. For best results lamination should occur within about two hours of this point, because the longer you wait after the gel coat is cured, the more likely you will be to see pre-release (where the gel coat separates from the mold) and contamination on the gel coat which could lead to blistering or delamination. We highly recommend that gel coat not sit overnight or longer before lamination.
Depending upon the specific gel coat used and the ambient conditions (temperature, humidity, air movement) a sprayed gel coat film can be ready to laminate on as quickly as 30 minutes or may take as long as a couple hours. If your gel coat has a specified cup gel time of about 26 minutes, and your ambient temperature is about 80F, then you can expect a lamination time of maybe 45 minutes to an hour at about 1.5% MEKP catalyst.