paint thickness guage

richy

richy

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I have a car coming to me with a ton of swirls on every panel. It was compounded poorly (obviously) to begin with and to make matters worse, the owner has taken it to 2 other places to try to get the swirls out to no avail. I am concerned about how much clear has been removed by the previous butchers. I inquired locally into a paint thickness guage and was told that they all measure from the metal to the top and therefore it is impossible to know the thickness of only the clear coat layer. He said the guages all work that way and anyone who claims different is full of..well you know. I know there are members here who have and use them...your thoughts? I am going to get the customer to sign a paper stating that if I burn through the clear due to previous jobs, I'm not responsible. What I would hope is that the clear will be thick enough that I'll have no problems.
 
damn thats a tough call, i know in the UK forums like EVERYONE has a paint gauge. Is it a popular car or a rare car?, What I would do is find another of the same car in a parking lot, measure it with a paint gage, lets say it says .50 in the car in the parking lot that looks like its never been detailing, and then your customer's car says something like .25, you'll know that the clear aint that thick. BUT... im just taking an EDUCATED Guess, i have never used one i have only seen videos and pics of people using them so dont take my word for it.
 
second solution would be to just use fillers?
 
SPiN said:
second solution would be to just use fillers?
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no, that's the problem: when it rains or he washes it, the swirls re-appear. I want them gone.
 
I too have been looking in to the paint gauge and here is the one that I'm considering purchasing.

PosiTector 6000 coating thickness gages, gauges use magnetic and eddy current principles to measure coating thickness on both ferrous and non-ferrous metals

The PosiTechtor 200 is actually not meant for vehicles, it's meant more for concrete, wood ect..but not for vehicles.

The one for vehicles is the Posi Techtor 600 model FNSII or FNSIII, the difference between FNSII and FNSIII is that the FNSIII has the software for a laptop. From what I've re-searched it will grapgh all the lawyers that of paint/clearcoat/basecoat ect ect...that are on the vehicle. It's probably one of the best one's I've found yet. Not the cheapest though, it's over $1,000.00 but it works great.

There are other options like this one for example. The PTG-3500 and here are some of it's features:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The PTG-3500 will measure in both MILS and MICRONS. This is something that many other gages will not do at all, and if they do, you can`t touch them for this price.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The PTG-3500 is pre- calibrated at the factory, as well as being able to re-calibrate with just the touch of a button.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The PTG-3500 will measure both a ferrous (steel) and non ferrous (aluminum) surface. Many of the other devices in this category will ONLY measure a ferrous (steel) surface. Not only will it measure BOTH surfaces, it will do it without doing anything to the tool. The tool will tell you what the surface is made of![/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Large measuring range. Up to 1000 MICRONS or 40 MILS[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Extreme accuracy- accurate to a tenth (.1) of a MIL or 2 MICRONS[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Portable and lightweight- This tool fits in your pocket and measures only 5 inches high, 2.6 inches wide, and 1.1 inches thick. It weighs only 5 ounces![/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Operates on regular AAA batteries which are included and installed[/FONT]

Not a bad toold and the price is okay $525.00 the only draw back is that it will only give you a total measurement.

Well just thought I'd share what I know so far, hope it helps.
 
richy said:
no, that's the problem: when it rains or he washes it, the swirls re-appear. I want them gone.
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No, not if you seal it in with a wax or sealant.
 
There's no way I can afford one of those bad boys! I will ensure the customer understands the risk and will proceed as cautiously as possible. I will seal my work with FMJ topped with Collinite.
 
Thejoyofdriving said:
No, not if you seal it in with a wax or sealant.
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Topping a glaze with a sealant or wax will still wash away over time and the swirls will reappear.
 
Ironically said, once all the swirls have been removed, can we as the detailer be sure that the owner wont create them back? Then whose fault is that? Are those new swirls or are those just the old covered with fillers? It sometimes dig my head.
Sure, if those swirls are buffer induced then it is more obvious than the careful wash induced ones.

In this thread I agree the buffer swirls must be corrected to certain degree.
I ever read that clear thickness is varying from 1.5-2 mils. With thickness gauge then you can substract the number you get from the device and you can figure what approximately left for you to do the correction.

Most manufacturer only recommend the correction to be done max 0.5 mil which is about 30%, more then the car needs repaint.
 
Thejoyofdriving said:
No, not if you seal it in with a wax or sealant.
Click to expand...

Most polymer sealants will not cross-link (bond) with any product that contain oil or wax
 
a spray sealant like optimum opti-seal will bond with glazes though
 
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