paint / clear coat guage which one to get?

[animescreen]

After gathering more knowledge and reading Mike's book and dvd, I'll be practicing on my other car the full works. Foam gun, 2 bucket method, iron x, claybar, polish and then wax.

I got good information on here about what pads to get and polish etc.. And now need to get a clear coat gauge where I need to see how much clear coat will be coming off. I have a new 2018 new x3 in white and was told this is very hard clear coat so i'm guessing more stronger pads or multiple passes are needed. I plan on keeping this for awhile as I just like the car a lot. So keeping tab on how much clear coat will be left will be good.

1). Any reccomendation for a good priced (some are very pricey) that will do the job?
2). Do they show how much wax might be left on there so i can re-wax it (as opposed to feel and bead test)
3). If I skip polishing and do wax as I'll probally chicken out this week and do it following week and apply wax should that be ok? Then when that following week comes up, I'll remove the wax with chemical guys wax remover and then restart the whole "Foam gun, 2 bucket method, iron x, claybar, polish and then wax." again. Problem is, I'll be doing claybar 2 weeks in a row, so I can probally take claybarring out while coninuing with iron x?

[Calendyr]

I have been using the CM8801-FN for several years and it has always served me well. It's not expensive and it works very well. The only limitation of that gauge is that it only works on steel and aluminium panels. So it's useless for plastic, fiber glass and carbon fiber. So it really depends what you typically work on. Gauges that can read composite non-metal panels will cost you your shirt, pants, arms and legs, but if you need it, you need it ;)

[animescreen]

I have been using the CM8801-FN for several years and it has always served me well. It's not expensive and it works very well. The only limitation of that gauge is that it only works on steel and aluminium panels. So it's useless for plastic, fiber glass and carbon fiber. So it really depends what you typically work on. Gauges that can read composite non-metal panels will cost you your shirt, pants, arms and legs, but if you need it, you need it ;)

Why would you need it for plastic and carbon fiber? If you use it on hood for example it should be good indicator how much clear coat you have left no?


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[FUNX650]

Why would you need it for plastic and carbon fiber?
If you use it on hood for example it should be good
indicator how much clear coat you have left no?

What if the hood is carbon fiber or ‘plastic’?


Bob

[Calendyr]

Why would you need it for plastic and carbon fiber? If you use it on hood for example it should be good indicator how much clear coat you have left no?


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It depends on what vehicle you are working on. Some cars's panels are made of carbon fiber, or fiber glass. On pretty much every car on the market the bumper covers are plastic, and that is one of the area of the car that is most likelly to get scratches when people parallel park.

You can always take a reading on the other panels on the car and hope that the paint on the bumper cover is the same depth, but it's not always the case.

If you work on exotic cars, then you are likelly to get carbon fiber a lot. Some cars have no metal panels at all. That is why I was saying, it depends what you work on.

[animescreen]

It depends on what vehicle you are working on. Some cars's panels are made of carbon fiber, or fiber glass. On pretty much every car on the market the bumper covers are plastic, and that is one of the area of the car that is most likelly to get scratches when people parallel park.

You can always take a reading on the other panels on the car and hope that the paint on the bumper cover is the same depth, but it's not always the case.

If you work on exotic cars, then you are likelly to get carbon fiber a lot. Some cars have no metal panels at all. That is why I was saying, it depends what you work on.

Whoa all carbon fiber parts must be flying in the air lol but makes sense thank you

In terms of paint gauge is this good to have if your gonna polish like 2x a year


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[rlmccarty2000]

If you are only doing your own vehicles I would not invest in a paint gauge. Take good care of your paint and a mild abrasive polish once a year should be sufficient and you won’t be removing much clearcoat. If you need to Compound your vehicle twice a year you need to take a good look at your wash techniques.