Paint Thickness Gauges

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Dave Pickett

New member
I see little if any mention of these being used in the States, whereas in the UK no self respecting detailer would leave home without one it seems!



So who uses a paint thickness gauge, and which makes/models do you favour?



Are they easily available stateside, I suspect they will be cheaper than in the UK!!!!
 
I think prehapes they are more required for some kinda cars, sports cars with thin paints more then run of the mill cars??



The thing is in the UK its been made in to such a hoo-raah upmarket kinda thing, while in the USA its much more run of the mill to get your car detailed.
 
The thing is in the UK its been made in to such a hoo-raah upmarket kinda thing, while in the USA its much more run of the mill to get your car detailed.
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That explains a lot!!!!! I suspect the UK is a few years behind USA as in many trends........
 
Coupe said:
Not many people use them, they are kinda pointless IMO
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IMHO they are pretty useful. Lets say I am going to do a scratch and swirl removal of a car. If I have a PTG I can see where the paint is thin, for example I have only 70microns on the left front wing. Then I would never use a wool pad and a compound on that beacuse it´s very easy to remove all the remaining clear and down to the primer.



So if the customer ask why their is still scratches on the front wing, I can tell him that the paint is so thin that I don´t want polish it. Beacuse I could ending up burning the paint.
 
I was just about to ask. I've tried to find a good PTG but it seems like online i can't find any realistic prices. They're all $400 or more. I'll check out that company.
 
Coupe said:
Not many people use them, they are kinda pointless IMO
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Me too. I've never had the need for one. I've done a countless number of major corrections on all kinds of paint and on different kinds of panels & I've never burned through. It might be useful for beginners that don't have alot experience working with paint, but most average corrections that I do, don't remove a significant amount of clear. I wonder about people that are removing that much paint on a basic correction?:confused: :wow: I've had customers that bring me their daily drivers 2-3 times per year for over 5 years and we've wool padded and buffed them every time and there's never a problem.
 
I have gone to a couple of the detailing seminars hosted by Richard Lin (OctaneGuy) at his shop and he is a big beleiver in his PTG. I can see where the unit is useful, for example it showed that the paint on my Integra is only 4 mils thick. So obviously I don't want to do anything more aggressive than a light polish.

However his seems to constantly give him problems, bad reading, inoperative, no reading. Etc. Plus, and correct me if I am wrong here, it only works on painted ferrous material, so in other words it won't even give you a reading on a plastic panel.
 
David Fermani said:
Me too. I've never had the need for one. I've done a countless number of major corrections on all kinds of paint and on different kinds of panels & I've never burned through. It might be useful for beginners that don't have alot experience working with paint, but most average corrections that I do, don't remove a significant amount of clear. I wonder about people that are removing that much paint on a basic correction?:confused: :wow: I've had customers that bring me their daily drivers 2-3 times per year for over 5 years and we've wool padded and buffed them every time and there's never a problem.
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And i agree with you :2thumbs:



Its a great marketing tool though, makes you look *pro*..........pffffff
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't a PTG measure primer, base coat and clear coat? It takes a measurement from the bare metal.
 
David Fermani said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't a PTG measure primer, base coat and clear coat? It takes a measurement from the bare metal.
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Thats my understanding, if thats right, then that makes the thing worthless.
 
A PTG is nice to have if you offer orange peel removal or deal with original finish classic cars, but I haven't been able to justify one - It'd take at least 3 OP removal jobs a year for me to justify it, and I have only had one customer request one in 3 years (and he didn't like what I quoted him).
 
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