Hi all
I'm new to Glasscast 50 but not to resin. I'm wanting to do some clear 50mm blocks with items suspended in the middle so was hoping to do 3 pours (the final one being a coating layer).
I work in a (heated) garden pod with a radiator running constantly. I heated both parts in a bath of warm/hot water for 10 mins before casting. I didn't de-gass in a vacuum chamber. I poured a c. 15mm depth at 4pm yesterday.
I went back this morning (thinking it might be at gel stage - it was way past so lesson learned!) to add my second layer and found these swirls as well as a load of trapped air? So I've binned them and need to start again (my brain is already thinking of random things I can do with the pliable resin though!). I will do some experiements today to try and establish the behaviour of the product in my situation but in the meantime my questions are these:

- what sort of timescale should I be looking at for the gel stage (I know there are several factors at play but even a rough indication would help)?
- what could have caused the swirls?
- why was there trapped air - especially when I went around the edge with a cocktail stick?
- am I decreasing the fluid stage by pre-heating? (I used it warm and didn't allow to cool)
- should I de-gass before pouring (I thought that was the beauty of slow cure in that it had time to naturally de-gas?)
- can I add a different brand and type of resin to the back of a piece before the front has fully cured? 


Many thanks in advance and I really hope someone can help.