Paint depth gauges

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killrflake

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I've read how many professional detailers use paint depth gauges and map out on a chart how thin the paint is all over the cars they are about to start paint correction on. I was wondering how many folks on this forum use such a tool. The prices that some places sell these meters for is very high for the casual and/or weekend detailer. I wouldn't mind spending a couple of hundred dollars for one, but many places are selling them for over $500.. Can anyone steer me toward a paint meter that cost around $200. and has reasonable quality and is accurate? Thanks for the help.
 
Im in the same boat KillrFlake. As someone who doesn't detail for living, but loves to work on friends, family and neighbor cars, id love to have a little reassurance when i pick up a rotary and start going at it. Im in the process of learning the rotary so i need all the help i can get, even if it does cost a tad extra lol
 
I have been thinking about getting one for awhile myself. Been stealing my brothers for years. But the novelty of aggravating my brother has worn off. That and is a 20 min. drive. I probably could of bought a nice one by now with all the gas its cost me.
 
killrflake said:
I've read how many professional detailers use paint depth gauges and map out on a chart how thin the paint is all over the cars they are about to start paint correction on. I was wondering how many folks on this forum use such a tool. The prices that some places sell these meters for is very high for the casual and/or weekend detailer. I wouldn't mind spending a couple of hundred dollars for one, but many places are selling them for over $500.. Can anyone steer me toward a paint meter that cost around $200. and has reasonable quality and is accurate? Thanks for the help.
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:whs: I too am in the market for a good paint thickness gauge, that will not require a Bail Out to purchase. I work in City Government,and I saw one an engineer had. A PosiTector 6000. I researched this one it's almost 2k.
I think AG ought to find one that is of good quality and start selling them.
 
Good looking out Wagonproject! I'll have to stash a little back from this weeks details and buy one!
 
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JLs Detailing said:
This is the one I use now. I had the Deflesko DFT and compared the two when I got my HighLine and they were dead nuts together. After seeing how accurate the Highline was I sold my DFT. Also there are really only two dependable manufacturers out there for Paint Gauges. Those are Deflesko and Elcometer. The key to the Highline is that Elcometer does all their warranty work for Highline as well as distributing the Highline. That tells you that the Highline is high quality if Elcometer will distribute them. All my paperwork that came with my Highline had Elcometer's name all over it.

Another great thing and advantage the Highline has over the DFT is that the DFT came with calibration strips but failed to provide any bare metal to put them on. My Highline came not only with the strips but also a ferrous and non-ferrous bare metal piece to place the calibration strip on to make sure you get an accurate calibration.

And advs1 the thing is you can get a pretty good indication of how thick the clear is by checking the paint thickness on the outside and then checking the thickness on the door jambs if you wanted to see about how thick the clear really is. You know there is not as much clear coat on the door jambs as on the hood. Its just a rough estimate but would get you somewhat in the ball park. Also if you are getting numbers that read in the 100-150 micron range and then you get some on a part of the car that read around 75 you know there has been a good deal of clear removed from that area and would let you know to avoid heavy compounding in that area.
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I don't use a paint depth gauge. I would love one but they are all generally too expensive.
 
Thanks wagonproject for the great tip. This looks to be exactly what I'm looking for and I may just pull the trigger and buy one. Helpful info like this is what makes Autogeek such a great site, again, thank you.
 
im returning a hf one today doesnt work on aluminum either most high end cars i do or care to test are aluminum bodys so this things pointless to me only works on steel not plastic or alum or anything else..
 
too bad Auto Zone did not have them as part of the tool rental program. I would like to have one as well but I am only a weekend detailer.
 
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