Paint depth gauge

[Mercedes350]

Starting off polishing cars and want to purchase a cheap and effective paint depth gauge any advice is helpful

[cleanmycorolla]

IMO I'd say wait on that, and invest in other things to help you launch. You have to think, at first, how many cars will you even need this on? Unless for some lucky reason you're doing Bentleys, Corvettes, Porsche's, show car details etc from the start....you're prob going to be doing more simple jobs to build up! IMO you could tkae the $200-$600 for this one thing, or spread it out for other things vital to launching a business.

But thats just me, either way I hear i site like ebay is good.

[statusdetailing]

Paint thickness gauge. . .cheap. . .haha! Good one man!


I've only recently (past year) started getting into the exotic and high end cars. I don't use a gauge, but will probably get one next Spring. I've done my homework and have been detailing for years.

You don't need one yet. Get a couple hundred cars under your belt and then come back and post this thread.

You need to start off on low end dealer cars. Get 50-100 of those under your belt. They'll pay you $100 or less but you need to practice on these things. Tiny little burns on edges and other minor things won't be noticeable on a $3000 car. On a Ferrari, it's the only thing you will see.

You will make mistakes. It's a guarantee. Start slow and have some very basic insurance.

[zmcgovern45]

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/product-reviews/61505-cm8801fn-paint-thickness-gauge-affordable-everyone.html

Here is a review on an inexpensive gauge that I picked up a while ago. It has worked very well thus far, and I know many others have it and enjoy it as well.

Hope that helps.
-Zach

[hernandez.art13]

^picked this one up also btw

A real Defelko digital is $600+ and the non digital one is $200+

That one cost me $150+ btw

[erichaley]

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/product-reviews/61505-cm8801fn-paint-thickness-gauge-affordable-everyone.html

Here is a review on an inexpensive gauge that I picked up a while ago. It has worked very well thus far, and I know many others have it and enjoy it as well.

Hope that helps.
-Zach

I have one of those as well, and it works very well.

When doing work on other people's vehicles, we have absolutely no idea how much paint is really there. Was it heavily compounded previously?

A PTG is a valuable tool to have, especially compared to the cost of fixing a whoops!.

A PTG also demonstrates to your customer that you're taking precautions other detailers don't, and it gives you an opportunity to educate them about just how thin their paint really is - and how much skill and effort is involved in polishing it.

While $600 can be hard to swallow, less than $200 is a no-brainer.

[rmagnus]

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/product-reviews/61505-cm8801fn-paint-thickness-gauge-affordable-everyone.html

Here is a review on an inexpensive gauge that I picked up a while ago. It has worked very well thus far, and I know many others have it and enjoy it as well.

Hope that helps.
-Zach

+1 and that was an awesome review. I've used this for about 2-3 years now. I'd be hard pressed to divide the fine line between it and the brand name Defelko. All this electronic stuff is made in China or Japan anyway.

What you want is consistency in measurements not how it measures compared to another guage (although I've done that favorably as well).

While I generally agree there are more important things to buy when first starting out it depends on the type of work you'll be doing. This piece of gear is hard to be without when compounding, sanding or removing scratches from cars.

You can find it on your favorite internet e-auction site.

[statusdetailing]

Cool, I guess I spoke too soon about getting an affordable PTG. I will look into that model. Thanks for the great review, Zmcgovern!

[zmcgovern45]

Glad I could help!

-Zach

[hernandez.art13]

I showed my estimator uncle my paint thickness gauge,

He said "cool, why don't you go to a dealership and test it out on new cars and see what readings you get, and that can give you an idea of how it reads, since those cars have a fresh spray of CC"

He uses one at the shop he works at. To see how many CC they sprayed on the repaired, they have a deal with PPG.

They use it to make sure they sprayed enough CC on the repaired car before they warranty it.