New tool Digital Coating Thickness Guage

[carguy]

I just received my thickness guage in the mail yesterday from harbor frieght. Took about 10 days on regular shipping ok to me. My question is I am doing my f-150 restortaion of the paint, took it out today calibrate it and took some readings on the clear coat, reading were on hood where not touched yet read 4.9- 4.7 mils. How much is to much to take off from wetsanding that I will cut past the clear and into the basecoat? I did some areas already before I bought the instrument and the readings are 4.5-3.9 etc. I did my whole roof and checked some areas and the reading were 1.9-1.7-1.6 mils. Now on these readings how much more can I go before I go to deep. The roof I have done some polishing on it to bring back the finish w/ xmt 3/ merzerna p106ff also ok results but need to bring out some more. I need some information on this so I can continue with this project, I'm planning on sanding the whole truck for orange peel alson amoung scratches. The guage is really nice though not off but 1-2 mils on some areas.

[budman3]

Switch the readings to ums and then report back -- the readings then should be between 100-200 (just guessing). I like the ums because it is a larger number, showing more accuracy.I too just got the same gauge and have been checking readings on a bunch of vehicles.

A tip I got from someone was to take a reading on the door jams, there is less clear coat there than the rest of the vehicle. I don't know how accurate that statement is, or how much different the thickness is compared to the rest of the body, but if you keep the thickness above the door jam amount, you will probably be ok. But that is for a factory paint job, hand painted vehicles vary more significantly and are harder to predict.

It's all a big guessing game basically. What is nice about a gauge is that you can tell if the paint layers are already too thin to polish and inform the customer than not much can be done because the paint is only XX ums thick (under 80?).

[mixxer]

thats next on my list to buy, im sure ill have some questions for ya budman.

[Rsurfer]

Switch the readings to ums and then report back -- the readings then should be between 100-200 (just guessing). I like the ums because it is a larger number, showing more accuracy.I too just got the same gauge and have been checking readings on a bunch of vehicles.

A tip I got from someone was to take a reading on the door jams, there is less clear coat there than the rest of the vehicle. I don't know how accurate that statement is, or how much different the thickness is compared to the rest of the body, but if you keep the thickness above the door jam amount, you will probably be ok. But that is for a factory paint job, hand painted vehicles vary more significantly and are harder to predict.

It's all a big guessing game basically. What is nice about a gauge is that you can tell if the paint layers are already too thin to polish and inform the customer than not much can be done because the paint is only XX ums thick (under 80?).

What brand and how much? Guess its alright to put up a link since AG doesnt sell gauges.

[budman3]

You can get it from Harbor Freight -- it's the CenTech brand and is $70.

[Rsurfer]

Thanks budman, thats pretty cheap. Is it accurate, I mean have you compared the thickness with more expensive gauges on the same car?

[mixxer]

I talked to pats300z about it and he said its accurate and worth the money for sure.

[budman3]

Thanks budman, thats pretty cheap. Is it accurate, I mean have you compared the thickness with more expensive gauges on the same car?

I have nothing to compare it to... but here were my thoughts on that subject:

-Any reading is better than no reading. It comes with a calibration plate and overlay with the thickness printed on it so as long as the machine is calibrated, it should be accurate.
-The thickness of the clear coat isn't going to be known, it's a guessing game. If the user knows what thickness is about right for the vehicle in question then they will know what steps to take after. If an expensive gauge reads 133 ums and this gauge reads 132 ums, from my experience that little difference isn't going to help you decide whether to use wool and a rotary or just a final polish because the clear is too thin.
-It seems many people who have all of the high end gauges don't even check their work to see how much paint they actually took off. Yes, it is almost impossible to check the same spots perfectly but this is something I'm anxious to try out, to see how much paint various tools and products are removing.
-I'm not sure how the Centech gauge compares to the other digital gauges but it has a small ball bearing / BB type ball inbetween 4 little prongs that rests on the paint to take a reading. What it does to get a reading is beyond me ... but as long as it gets a reading, I am happy. That being said, the prongs are a little pointed so take caution not to slip and drag the gauge across the paint and inflict any marring, especially on curved panels.


I took many readings on the Tacoma and all were in the 120 um range. The front bumper and fender flares did not product a reading since they are plastic, but the bed of the truck did --- which is a composite material. The readings on the bed were still in like with the 120ums, which is confusing because it's not metal. Also, the gauge worked fine on steel and aluminum body panels.

[HHIslander]

AutoGeek, any chance ya'll are going to start carrying these?

[blk45]

reading were on hood where not touched yet read 4.9- 4.7 mils.

I did my whole roof and checked some areas and the reading were 1.9-1.7-1.6 mils.

If you are saying that you went from 4.9- 4.7 mils to 1.9-1.7-1.6 mils, you took off WAY too much.