Originally Posted by heatgain
I was at my local PBE store buying UltraFina, a 3" backplate and an interface pad when I noticed some items on a shelf marked "Sale." The item is a Mar-Hyde Paint Measuring Gauge #1099 and is selling for $15.00. Of course I bought one. It's a 4 inch long cylinder, about the thickness of a fat pen, and comes in a plastic case with instructions. It has a pocketclip attached like a pen.
It has a small magnet on one end which you place on a coated steel object, such as a car panel. You grasp the top of it and pull slowly away from the object you are measuring. The magnet sticks to the panel and as you pull away, a measuring cylinder pulls out from its sheath. The cylinder has a scale (mils) printed on it, from 14 to 0, and is spring loaded. You have to watch the scale as you pull the gauge slowly from the panel you are measuring, and when it reaches a certain point away from the panel, the spring pops the scaled cylinder back into the gauge. The last reading you saw on the scale is the mil thickness of the coating (paint). The scale markings are 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, etc.
I measured its readings against other gauges and its weirdly accurate.
It has 2 different scales, one for reading a horizontal (top) panel, another for reading a (side) vertical panel. For a panel where you're measuring from underneath, you subtract .002" (2 scale lines) to arrive at a thickness. You get readings like 2, 5, 4, 6, etc. You'll have to approximate for instance 4.5, 6.75, 3.2, etc.
It's cheap, fairly accurate, and you won't be working blindly on a car with no idea of the thickness of the paint, whether it's been repainted, etc.
I could pick some up for any members if they'd like, $15.00 plus shipping. ($6? $5?, I'm guessing).
Let me know if you'd like one. Please be sincere, don't want to lay out money and get stuck! Shipping can't be much, it doesn't weigh much?
|