Can we talk about how wrong most paint thickness gauges are?

I tested 4 different budget gauges against a $600 Elcometer at a shop in Denver last Tuesday and the cheap ones were off by up to 30 microns on bare metal. Makes me wonder how many re-dos happen because people trust those $50 Amazon specials. Anybody got a gauge under $200 that actually reads consistently?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_blair23d ago

Bought a $50 gauge off Amazon and it told me my primer was somehow thicker than the paint itself. Took it to a buddy's shop and he laughed so hard he offered to calibrate it for me as a joke. Now I just stick to using the same cheap gauge every time so at least my measurements are consistently wrong.

hugo_jones23d ago

Used to think expensive gauges always meant accuracy, but your story totally flipped that around for me.