Most industrial manufacturers have a thickness measurement process in place. Parts get checked, data gets recorded, processes are adjusted, final products are shipped. The question is whether your current approach is giving you everything it could. And it’s a question that spans waste reduction, production times, repeatability, data sharing, and profitability.

For today’s manufacturers of plastic pipes, aluminum and nonferrous castings, wax molds for precision castings, rubber hoses and tubing, and rubber sheets and coatings, that question has a definitive answer. Thickness gauging is now efficient, accessible, and highly portable. Its simplicity enables fast, easy deployment, fundamentally changing how measurements are performed on the production floor—and what your process can achieve.

Magna-Mike™ 8600 Thickness Gauge
Evident’s Magna-Mike 8600 is a portable, Hall Effect-based thickness gauge built for nonferrous materials. It measures thickness magnetically—a probe on one side of the material, a small target ball, disk, or wire on the other—with no need to access both surfaces mechanically, and no couplant required. Measurements update at up to 60 Hz and display instantly on a large color screen.

For industrial manufacturers working with hollow profiles, enclosed geometries, reinforced hose walls, investment casting molds, or nonferrous castings with complex shapes, the Magna-Mike opens up measurement opportunities that contact-based methods can’t reach—without adding any unnecessary complexity to the process.

When You Can Test More, You Can Learn More
One of the most practical advantages of nondestructive thickness gauging is straightforward: because the measurement process does not damage the part, you can take more measurements across more locations without any material loss.

If you currently rely on periodic destructive sampling, this can considerably change your inspection frequency economics. Instead of verifying wall thickness on a single representative sample, you can measure a much larger portion of a production run. Instead of a single cross-section on an extruded pipe, you can scan the full circumference. And rather than confirming a wax mold only after it’s been sectioned and the casting process is already committed, you can verify it in situ—before ceramic dipping.

More measurement points translate directly into better process visibility:

• Earlier detection of wall variation or process drift
• Reduced exposure between verification events
• Greater confidence in shipped product—without sacrificing any of it to inspection

When thickness measurement is nondestructive, inspection frequency is a choice, not a tradeoff.

Consistent Results Across Operators, Shifts, and Locations
Manual contact thickness measurement methods—whether calipers, micrometers, or mechanical gauges—work well for many applications. But on soft or compressible materials like rubber, on curved or contoured surfaces, or on geometries where probe positioning is difficult to standardize, result consistency can vary between operators, across shifts, or between locations using different instruments.

The Magna-Mike measures the magnetic field distance to the target—the same physical interaction, every time, regardless of who is holding the probe. There’s no contact pressure variable, no jaw alignment factor, and no reading interpretation. With multipoint calibration engaged, the accuracy curve tightens further. The result is measurement data that can be meaningfull compared across operators, across time, and across facilities.

For manufacturers with multiple lines, multiple sites, or high operator turnover, this consistency has practical value: setup qualifications transfer more reliably, process baselines hold across shifts, and audit data tells a coherent story. Repeatable results aren’t just accurate—they’re trustworthy.

From Inspection to Process Control
There’s a significant difference between confirming that a part meets spec and understanding how your process is trending. The first tells you whether something passed. The second tells you where it’s going—and gives you the opportunity to act before it doesn’t pass.

The Magna-Mike’s 60 Hz update rate and Minimum Mode—which automatically captures the thinnest point during each scan pass—make it practical to accumulate measurement data that’s granular enough to inform upstream decisions. This can include die gap adjustments on a pipe extrusion line, rubber compound thickness settings, casting geometry corrections, and mold rework thresholds. Rather than a periodic pass/fail record, you build a thickness profile over time, one that can surface patterns, support root cause analysis, and give process engineers real evidence for fine-tuning decisions. When your measurement tool is accurate enough to inform the process, inspection becomes engineering.

Connected to Your Workflow—and to Your Team
The Magna-Mike’s RS-232 and USB outputs enable direct data transfer to Excel via the included WINXL interface. Readings can be single-sent or file-sent, exported to microSD in .txt or CSV formats, and fed into SPC programs. The internal data logger supports four file formats—incremental, sequential, sequential with custom point, and 2D grid.

Connectivity goes beyond data export. The Magna-Mike supports live PC connection during application setup, troubleshooting, and operator training. When a new material, geometry, or probe configuration needs to be qualified, an Evident or in-house specialist can walk through setup in real time via video call—with the gauge connected and readings visible on screen. This compresses the qualification timeline significantly and, in many cases, eliminates the need for an onsite visit.

For multi-site operations or teams onboarding new operators, this means:

• Faster application qualification without waiting for a field visit
• Remote calibration guidance and troubleshooting
• Consistent setup across locations without travel costs
• Operator training that can happen where and when it’s needed

The more accessible your measurement data is—to your team and your support network—the more valuable it becomes.

Built for Where the Work Happens
The Magna-Mike meets MIL-STD environmental testing standards for vibration, drop, and shock. It’s IP67 rated, runs up to 16 hours on a single battery charge, and is compact enough to go wherever the inspection needs to happen. Three probe configurations—straight, right-angle, and low-profile articulating—address the access constraints that come with pipes, hoses, castings, and molds.

And because the Magna-Mike is designed for the production floor, not the metrology lab, operators of any skill level can quickly get accurate, repeatable readings without any extensive training or specialized NDT credentials.

A More Complete Measurement Practice
Nondestructive thickness gauging with the Magna-Mike 8600 allows you to measure more parts, more points, more often, without adding material costs or slowing down production. Combined with improved repeatability across operators, data granular enough to drive process decisions, and connectivity that supports remote qualification and training, the Magna-Mike is a meaningful step forward for any industrial manufacturing facility that relies on wall thickness measurement to ensure safe, reliable products built precisely to spec.

For producers of plastic pipe, rubber hose, rubber sheet, wax molds, and nonferrous castings, the Magna-Mike 8600 offers a clear path to more measurement, less waste, and greater confidence in what gets shipped.

Schedule a Free Magna-Mike 8600 Demo
Experience fast, easy nondestructive thickness measurement for yourself. See firsthand how the Magna-Mike can improve inspection frequency, measurement consistency, and process visibility across your operation.

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