Reddit mentions of CM8801FN Paint Coating Thickness Gauge 0-1250um/0-50mil

Just to double check, the swirls aren't leftover from the compound being aggressive right? If not, then you likely haven't gone through a whole lot of clear and you should be fine, but I would definitely start with a polish first and see if it clears it up. This is the paint thickness gauge I have, btw. It doesn't differentiate between the clear, base and primer, but it will give you an idea of how much you're removing. This is a really informative post to refer to if you want to know how much is generally safe to correct.

Sandro from Car Craft Detailing recommends this one Paint Gauge

Okay so the first time you used Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish. That means you compounding, an aggressive cut. No matter how "gentle" you were, this is an aggressive paint correction. Depending on the paint, you could have taken little or a lot off(I was shocked to see how much the Cadillac STS I did this week was losing in paint depth after just a polish.). This is why I encourage you to invest in a depth gauge if you plan to do another round of paint correction. I'll be honest, you really shouldn't need to correct this quickly after the first round. You mention that there are swirl marks from previous owners still, so either your paint is hard or you didn't do much with your last round("gentle" I guess, but really with a machine nothing would be gentle IMO). Ultimately I am just telling you this because a gauge is like $125-$150 on Amazon and a repaint is more expensive than this, and if you plan on doing anymore paint correction it is a worthwhile purchase. This is just a cautionary thing, heed it or not.

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A polish is typically going to be your final step unless you're working on some super finicky paint. In that case you may need a "jeweling" type polish that is super low cut, but this isn't exactly normal. My black Honda paint which is soft can be finished with m205 and a Yellow Rupes pad(m205 is typically a little more cut than polishes and the yellow pad is a standard polishing pad). Really shouldn't need to switch pads either unless again, finicky paint.

https://smile.amazon.com/CM8801FN-Coating-Thickness-0-1250um-0-50mil/dp/B00DKUUUP2/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1541731263&sr=8-8&keywords=paint+depth+gauge This is solid. $150<Repainting


You can get away without the gauge, but you're running a risk. Do what you will with that. Typically you should only really need one compounding correction then light polishing after that to maintain assuming you use safe washing methods.

Looking for some paint thickness gauge / meter recommendations on the cheap. For personal use. Not interested in spending thousands on a professional gauge.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D337RPW/?coliid=I1B4EN3ZFPAIRQ&colid=3GJZC1EZZLFLA&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Seems too good to be true, but is it worth trying out?

Otherwise, I might end up with this one, seems like it has good reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DKUUUP2/?coliid=I39I2VK46CLC8P&colid=3GJZC1EZZLFLA&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

I like CarPro Eraser for expecting cars. I would check into that.

If you want to figure out how much clear coat you have to play with, buy a paint thickness gauge. I'm saving up for this one.

Take a look at this post to see how it can save your butt!
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/76453-why-paint-thickness-readings-important.html

I use this one

For what it's worth, it does the job. I know it's over $100 but I wouldn't trust anything lower than this one. $120 bucks is a lot better than a respray though!