A customer in Phoenix asked me a question about paint thickness I couldn't answer

He was picking up his truck and asked, 'What's the mil thickness on this clear?' I had to admit I didn't know the exact number, just that it was 'enough.' He said his last shop in Tucson gave him a printout from their gauge. It made me realize I've been trusting my eye for 15 years, but a $150 gauge might actually be a good investment for setting clear expectations. Anyone have a brand they like for a basic paint meter?

3 comments

3 Comments

harperg7623d ago

Yikes, that's a wake-up call. Your eye can't measure microns, and now customers expect that number. Maybe time to stop trusting the old ways, huh?

willowh2023d ago

That $150 gauge you're looking at is probably a cheap Chinese one. They're not very accurate on curved panels or over body filler. A decent basic meter from a brand like DeFelsko or Elcometer starts around $400. Your customer from Tucson likely got a reading from a PosiTector, which is the industry standard. Trusting your eye works until a detailer burns through your clear because they didn't know the true thickness.

leo_fisher22d ago

Yeah, "trusting your eye works until it doesn't" is the scary part, isn't it? Makes you wonder how close you've been to trouble all these years.