(First-time epoxy resin user here, please interpret my opinions accordingly.)
Industrial Clear self-leveled exactly as advertised. The surface tension was high enough that I needed to push it around a bit with my mixing stick to get full coverage, but that was easy and the ripples vanished very quickly. It also leveled out quickly after plucking hairs and other debris off of the surface.
The working time was much more generous than what other manufacturers claim. If anything, the working time may be closer to 60 minutes than to 45. I even had enough time to run to the hardware store and back to replace an inadequate propane torch tip (after wasting a few minutes screwing around with a hair dryer and a small butane lighter), and I was still able to torch out the remaining bubbles without disturbing the final finish at all. While quite a few bubbles had developed when measuring and mixing the components, many of them disappeared again during the final pour onto the surface.
The temperature range for curing was perhaps the biggest selling point for me. Various other resins I looked into had stern warnings that 75°F was the absolute lowest allowable temperature, and that below 75°F the curing process would stall out and never restart; I was especially reassured by the reviewer who poured in too cold a space, experienced an incomplete cure, and was able to fully cure his work in a warmer area.
Cleanup was simple for both measuring buckets and both mixing buckets: just a few swabbings each with acetone and paper towels.
The smell was perceptible but not noxious or choking; it could probably be applied indoors with minimal ventilation. I accidentally dripped a bit on my arm and didn't notice until an hour or two later, with no skin irritation or other ill effect.
A very minimal amount of bloom appeared when curing in about 60% humidity, but it was almost invisible and it cleaned up easily with paper towels and soapy water. About four to six hours after the pour it looked like a much more visible bloom effect had developed, but near the 24-hour mark it looked pretty clear again. All in all this sounds perfectly consistent with the product's description as "bloom resistant."
As advice for prospective buyers, I must emphasize three points in particular.
1.) If you use a form or dam around the outside of your workpiece, a meniscus will occur at the edges. I believe this is no fault of the Industrial Clear product specifically; it appears to be typical of all resins, and indeed typical of most liquids in general. If you can, you should probably build your workpiece oversized with the aim of sawing around the perimeter to remove the upswept area entirely. (My particular application was a butcher-block benchtop that wouldn't have been suitable for this technique. The longways cuts would risk exposing or compromising any tie-rods that might be present, and would also leave two conspicuously narrower boards that would just look horrible. But I digress.)
2.) Again, I believe this is no fault of Industrial Clear specifically: but if you plan to tap threads into your epoxied workpiece or use wood screws in it, you should counterbore the epoxy out to the major diameter of the screw thread. Otherwise the screw or tap may try to lift the epoxy and delaminate it from the substrate.
3.) I underestimated the necessity of climate control. During the first 24 hours, the ambient temperature swung down from about 83°F to about 72°F and back up to the low-to-mid 80s again, because my workshop area is in my garage which is not climate controlled. Despite 70°F being listed as the minimum optimal curing temperature, this appears to have been the cause for a minor orange-peel effect that's visible at low angles with bright lighting. Perhaps the FAQ warning about temperature drops could be rephrased to note that swings within the optimal range may also affect smoothness; but it wouldn't be fair to ding a star off of the review just because I took a guess that didn't pan out. And anyway, this is the topcoat for a workbench, so there's worse damage underneath the pour and I will undoubtedly do worse to it myself in the course of normal use. Furthermore, I'll likely end up polishing the whole surface because the bench planer I'm removing the meniscus with is leaving a frosted stripe around the perimeter, so there's every possibility that the orange-peel will get ground away too.
Overall, Industrial Clear seems about as lenient and easy to work with as any epoxy resin could be, at a considerably lower price point than the ultra-low-temperature-cure resins that are marketed as industrial floor coatings. I've already recommended it to the friends and family members I had contacted at the beginning of my epoxy research for this project.
