Paint Thickness vs. Product cut

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BlackRam

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I know there are alot of factors into how much cut a pass will be, pad choice/product choice/pressure/speed etc, but is there a way to chart or gauge how much an AIO may take off in microns vs say a compound or swirl remover, etc etc etc.
What is a new car micron thickness? And what is a good to great polishing safe zone? What is unsafe?
Trying to wrap my head around microns and thickness.

Thank you
 
I think every manufacturer will vary on paint thickness. I think even different colors will
 
as said it will vary depending upon product and manufactures your best bet is to get a paint gauge but for the time begin use the least aggressive approach and work your way upward in aggressiveness but always do a test spot before that way you know it will work, and if a defect is still there after those few passes leave it be
 
BlackRam said:
Trying to wrap my head around microns and thickness.
Click to expand...
1.0 micron = 0.039 mils
= 0.000039inches (39 millionths of an inch)

CC paint thickness/3M Post-it-Note=
~1.0-2.0 mils = 25.4-50.8 microns
= 0.001-0.002 inches (1-2 thousandths of an inch)

Takes a real good set of eyes to see these "thicknesses"!!
An electronic paint thickness gauge (EPTG) will be the
tool of choice, in order to see these numeric elevations.

Bob
 
Is there anywhere posted where the paint from various manufacturers paint "hardness" is posted?
 
All good advice but that chart is still too subjective. Bottom line always do a test spot. Measuring paint thickness before and after is another good idea.

Sometimes you'll run into repainted panels and after market paint as well. Rarely do people volunteer this information. A few extra minutes doing a careful inspection after the wash is time well spent. Remember to take photos part of the before and after documentation.
 
rmagnus said:
All good advice but that chart is still too subjective. Bottom line always do a test spot. Measuring paint thickness before and after is another good idea.

Sometimes you'll run into repainted panels and after market paint as well. Rarely do people volunteer this information. A few extra minutes doing a careful inspection after the wash is time well spent. Remember to take photos part of the before and after documentation.
Click to expand...

What prompted my question was a recent experience with some minor scratches originating from bird crap on a friends BMW. The most aggressive combo of products I had (a red cut pad and UC) didn't take it out. I had never had that happen before on my Jeep or Ford. That made me curious if I need to find something even more aggressive. I told him anything stronger than what I had on hand, I would be uncomfortable going after and potentially causing more damage than correction. The table definitely helped make sense of my experience.
 
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