David Beamish is general manager of DeFelsko Corp., a New York-based manufacturer of handheld coating test instruments sold worldwide. He has a degree in civil engineering and has more than 20 years of experience in the design, manufacture and marketing of these testing instruments in a variety of international industries. He can be reached at 800.448.3835 or 315.393.4450, or by e-mail at dbeamish@defelsko.com.
Conventional coating thickness tests are time-consuming, difficult to perform, and are subject to operator interpretation and other measurement errors. Applicators find destructive methods impractical. To get a statistically representative sample, several wood or plastic products from a lot might need to be scrapped as part of the destructive testing process. With the arrival of advanced ultrasonic instruments, many finishers have switched to nondestructive inspection using this accurate measurement technique.