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Shoutout to the old school paint gauge for saving a job
Had a 2018 F-150 come in with a bad quarter panel blend, the color was off just enough to bug me. Pulled out my old analog gauge I keep in the bottom drawer, the one my boss gave me when I started. It showed the factory paint was way thicker than the spec sheet said, almost 8 mils. Mixed a new batch with an extra coat of midcoat, let it flash for 20 minutes longer than usual. The match is perfect now, you can't see the line at all. Anyone else still use those old gauges for tricky factory jobs?
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the_laura6mo ago
That needle wiggle @violay27 mentioned is a feature, not a bug. It's how the gauge tells you it's seen some things. Had a similar thing with a factory Honda clearcoat reading way thin last year. The spec was fine, but the old gauge just kept shivering on the low end. Ended up doing a test spot with a slower reducer, and sure enough, the factory must have had a bad day. Sometimes the new tech just sees the number it expects to see.
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angelafisher4mo ago
Yeah I used to be one of those guys that thought the new digital stuff was the only way to go... but after a few jobs like this I started grabbing my old analog gauge from the bottom of the box more and more. @violay27 is spot on about that needle wiggle thing, it's like the tool's trying to tell you something the numbers won't. That F-150 story proves the old stuff still has its place.
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