Coating Thickness Measurement

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Coating and paint thickness is important in substrate protection, cost, and aesthetic aspects. Coating thickness gauges enable quantitative precision measurement for inspection purposes.

What is coating thickness measurement?

Coating thickness measurement is the measurement of the thickness of a coating that has been applied to a substrate material. Our coating thickness gauges measure a variety of coating thicknesses on metal substrates. A common, but not the only application, is the measurement of the thickness of paint and consequently coating thickness gauges are often called paint thickness gauges (even though they can also measure thicknesses of coatings other than paint). Other common names used include paint depth gauge, paint gauge, paint meter, and coating gauge.

How can thicknesses of coatings be measured?… Read more Continue Reading

Video Demonstration

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This video demonstration illustrates the features and ease of use of the FN Pro thickness gauge.

Here, we measure the paint thickness on a Ferrari 360. This car has an aluminium body and the gauge automatically senses this as a non-ferrous substrate and switches to eddy current measuring technology. No user intervention, menu option switching or probe changing is required (unlike many other gauges). The FN Pro is an integrated, automated gauge.

The consistency of the gauge is demonstrated by placing it on the same location 3 times in a row – with the gauge illustrating consistent readings to 1/1000 of a mm (1µm) each time.

The display flip feature allows easy reading on vertical panels and at different angles – at the touch of a button.… Read more

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Automotive Paint Inspection

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Paint thickness gauges are an important tool in automotive paint inspection. Our FN Pro, FN Plus, FN Evo, FN CM, and 156 USB paint thickness gauges are suitable for this purpose and are used by vehicle manufacturers, car dealers, bodyshops, appraisers, car buyers, and at auctions.

Why use a paint thickness gauge for paint inspection?

A paint thickness gauge is able to non-destructively measure the thickness of the coating on the metal panels of a vehicle. This allows the paint thickness on a vehicle to be rapidly and easily assessed.

For vehicle manufacturers and bodyshops this can be an important quality control assessment. An overly thick layer of paint can indicate wastage of expensive materials while an overly thin layer could be insufficient for long-term sustainable substrate protection.… Read more

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Car Paint Detailing

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Paint thickness gauges are an important tool in the paint inspection and correction process. Our FN Pro, FN Plus, FN Evo, FN CM, and 156 USB paint thickness gauges are suitable for this purpose and are used by professional detailers and paint correction specialists.

Why use a paint thickness gauge for detailing?

If defects such as scratches, swirls or other imperfections are to be removed from paint, an abrasive is typically used to remove the surface layer of paint or clear coat. This can be in the form of abrasive paper or an abrasive polishing compound, typically via a dual action or rotary machine polisher.

Professional machine polishing car paint

Before beginning the polishing process, it is important to assess and map the thickness of the paint across the areas to be polished.… Read more

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