Reccommend me a good Paint Gauge

ShineTimeDetail

ShineTimeDetail

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Recommend me a good Paint Gauge! I am looking to buy one mainly for 2 reasons-

1- obviously to see what kind of paint I'm working with and to see where I need to be careful with.

2- so I can start to get more comfortable using a rotary. See I get am constantly worried bc of reason one and I don't know how much paint I'm taking off while doing section passes. This way I can do a section and see where I'm at before and after.

AG's is $700 and its a great gauge that I've used but not sure I am willing to fork out $700. Before I typed this thread I thought it was like 395 but I guess I was off by a few hundred. Is $3-400 range going to be too low to get a quality gauge?
 
The lower priced paint gauges usually don't have a "non-ferrous" capability. That will restrict you on a lot of today's vehicles, since many have plastic/fiberglass and other NF materials.
 
I have the highline meter II (around $275) and its great and has saved me a few times. It's more just to get a general idea of the paint thickness, see if any areas are low, or been repainted. It's a great tool to have.

Of course this meter doesn't read on plastics, which can be an issue on some newer vehicles. But if you want a meter that reads on all surfaces your going to be spending a lot more than $700 (around $2k).
 
The PosiTest DFT we sell measures on both steel and aluminum and will tell you with an indicator on the screen what type of metal you're measuring.

F = ferrous or steel
N = Non-ferrous or aluminum

The PosiTest DFT is also a 3% gauge so it's very accurate. Not sure what the Highline?


SeaJay's said:
It's more just to get a general idea of the paint thickness, see if any areas are low, or been repainted. It's a great tool to have.
Click to expand...


That's right, it's basically a "Big Picture" indicator or a tool to help you make the "Go" or "No Go" decision as to whether to sand or even just buff on the paint.

It's also a good marketing tool to show your customer's you know what you're doing and by default, any detailer they meet that doesn't have one or even know how to talk intelligently about paint thickness it shows again, that you know what you're doing.



:)
 
Re: Recommend me a good Paint Gauge

ShineTimeDetail said:
This one says non-ferrous metals...does that include fiberglass?

QuaNix® QNix® 1500 Coating Thickness Gauge
Click to expand...


I think non-ferrous metals in context means aluminum...

It usually means metal without iron so they could mean other metals besides aluminum but I don't think these other metals, for example, copper, brass, etc. are being used to make car body panels as often as steel, aluminum and plastic composites.


I could be wrong though...


The PosiTest DFT is a very high quality and accurate paint thickness gage.


I'll use it on the Extreme Honda Makeover this Thursday and show make a little video so you can see it in action.

This Honda has been repainted so the reading will likely be all over the place.


:)
 
Re: Recommend me a good Paint Gauge

Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
I think non-ferrous metals in context means aluminum...

It usually means metal without iron so they could mean other metals besides aluminum but I don't think these other metals, for example, copper, brass, etc. are being used to make car body panels as often as steel, aluminum and plastic composites.


I could be wrong though...


The PosiTest DFT is a very high quality and accurate paint thickness gage.


I'll use it on the Extreme Honda Makeover this Thursday and show make a little video so you can see it in action.

This Honda has been repainted so the reading will likely be all over the place.


:)
Click to expand...


Thanks Mike, I used that gauge when I took your class a couple years ago and its a very nice gauge! The thing is, I want something that will measure on plastic and fiber glass.
 
RMM said:
Fiberglass isn't a metal: so, it doesn't.
If you want something that reads on substrates other than metals you will have to go to something like a DeFelsko PosiTector 200 (meaning "big bucks"...).
Click to expand...

The thing that sucks with those is 3 things.

1- you have to apply a gel on the panel to take a reading.
2- you can't use these for ferrous cars.
3- between 2-6000! Only 2 manufacturers
 
I have the Highline II and I highly recommend it. Several have purchased one off my recommendation. There were some issues with poorly written instructions on how to calibrate it, but it's not that hard to do. It will do both types of metal. It will not do plastic or fiberglass. Plan on spending several thousands of dollars to get one that will. I don't have one and likely won't get one.
 
I wonder if you could make up some of the cost by advertising/selling a paint measurement service as a sideline money maker?

People that frequent detailing forums and maintain their own cars might be willing to pony up maybe $50 for measurement of their whole car so they have a baseline for their own detailing (but don't want to buy a thousand dollar device). It would take what, about 10 minutes to do it? Not a bad ROI.

If you advertise the service and have no takers, you don't lose anything since you were going to buy the gauge anyway.

Just a thought.

PS how do you get these recalibrated? I imagine the accuracy is only guaranteed to hold for 1-2 years and needs to be recalibrated like pretty much any precision measurement instrument on a regular basis.
 
I'm pretty happy with my EBay gauge for $105.00. It does ferrous and non ferrous metals (no plastic). For the hobbyist, I can't imagine a better gauge for the money. I only has one issue though. The nipple that touches the paint is metal, and can mar paint if not careful.

c6e4c89a-ec5c-3578.jpg


c6e4c89a-ec98-2f15.jpg
 
swanicyouth said:
I'm pretty happy with my EBay gauge for $105.00. It does ferrous and non ferrous metals (no plastic). For the hobbyist, I can't imagine a better gauge for the money. I only has one issue though. The nipple that touches the paint is metal, and can mar paint if not careful.
Click to expand...

can you post a picture of your nipple? for educational purposes as to how it will mar paint
 
ok thanks for update/links etc, just found it odd a device used to measure paint would mar paint, meaning after measuring, you would have to buff again...then measure and repeat lol
 
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