Review: RUPES BigFoot LHR 19E Rotary Polisher by Mike Phillips at Autogeek

[Mike@ShineStruck]

I've been waiting for this rotary

As for the whole Rupes Bigfoot name plates..I think they should of dubbed the Mille Lil foot haha due to the 5mm throw.

[dlc95]

Me too. Kind of weird how when looking back - for so long all the foam buffing pads on the market were thick and the majority of wool pads were large diameter.

I have one small wool pad as a test pad from Dave Patterson at Lake Country. I have not used it yet. I'll take a picture of it and the pad I did use on the Chevelle with the RUPES RP today.





Well... that's just my way of thinking. By this I mean, I kind of like it when a tool has a nickname to make it easier to reference and type about versus a long drawn out part number that has more relevance for warehouse and inventory tracking then it has for people in the real-world.

Like mentioned, I asked Jason if RUPES had a name for the new rotary polisher and he said "no". He didn't say why and I didn't ask. I'm sure RUPES has a method to their madness.

Me? While using the tool for the first time I thought the tool was nimble and that was also the word that came to my mind as I used it. The irony of the name is I think it's safe to say that historically, when considering the weight and bulkiness of traditional full size rotary buffers, the last word that would come to mind to describe the old school buffers would be nimble.


I hope by the time our boat detailing class gets here February 10th and 11th and our first 3-day hands-on car detailing class for 2018, February 23rd, 24th and 25th, that not only are these tools in stock but I hope to have at least 10 of each in Autogeek's Show Car Garage for all the students attending this class to test out.


Would be a great opportunity to miss out on.

Didn't you coin the 3401 as "the Beast" as well?

[Justin at Final Inspection]

Awesome review Mike. I can attest to having used the old school rotary polishers with 7 and 8in wool and cheepo yellow foam pads. The DA/Porter Cable style polishers weren't even really on the market much at that time. Along with all of my more modern tools I still have my Makita rotary I bought back in 2003. Although it works I have been contemplating purchasing a newer rotary. Either a Pe14 or possibly this new offering from Rupes.

[SWETM]

Thanks Mike for this deep review and write up!

I really like the low rpm on this "Agile" and understand more and more in theory the benefits it has. If I would buy a rotary polisher this is on my list to get. This is certainly the first of many that will follow to make a nimble rotary polisher. Rupes is in front of develop polisher that is users friendly.

Looking forward to see when you gets more time behind it and others that are useing it and see the things you are going to do with it. This first car got an awesome job on it from start to end.

[JustJesus]

Did you click on the audio button and listen to how the agile is pronounced in Italian?


The e is a long A sound just like the e in the word Mille. So the words Agile and Mille in Italian rhyme.

I didn't. But I use that Google feature quite a bit, and you did an excellent job with:


The Agile - pronounced phonetically,

The aj - ell - a

So I read it just how you spelled it out (phonetically). I knew it rhymed after reading it in my head I almost wrote that they rhymed in my prior post, actually.

[Mike Phillips]

***Update***


I just posted the review to this tools kissing cousin....


Review: RUPES BIGFOOT MILLE LK 900E by Mike Phillips


The RUPES BIGFOOT MILLE LK 900E Gear-Driven Orbital Polisher

[Mike Phillips]

***Update***



Someone asked how long the cord is on the Mille?

The answer is 29' long. That's a long cord.

To give you and idea, here's three pictures, each one honing down on just the cord to show you what 29' looks like. Note the cord is stretched from the hood of the 1970 AAR Cuda to the far wall.






Now I've cropped out the fluff...





And now just the cord

This picture and the above picture are from the original pictures above...






While I didn't take a picture of the cord fully stretched out for the RUPES rotary polisher, here's a picture of it showing the cord.







Click here to pre-order the RUPES 19E Rotary Polisher

[DBAILEY]

It looks so much smaller and lighter than my Makita. It has the same grunt power?

Mike, I'm a big fan of correction with low speed rotary also. The paint just looks cleaner to me after the second polishing step. No need for high speed polishing.

When I learned to use a rotary it wasn't until I slowed down the speed that finally got the hang of it and the scariness was gone. I've never wanted to increase speed since then. I mainly use the 6.5 & 5.5" LC foamed purple wool pads. I like using the PE-8 with 4" purple wool pads, but dislike the 1300 min RPM. With 3", 2" and 1" the 1300 RPM is fine and you don't notice the speed. When you get to 4" pad it is noticeable. So I like the low min RPM on the LHR 19E and it looks almost as nimble as the PE-8.

[jslym777]

Mike, in your opinion, would a Rupes DA, long throw, have gotten the paint leveled in the same amount of time (start to finish) as the rotary?

[Mike Phillips]

Mike, in your opinion, would a Rupes DA, long throw, have gotten the paint leveled in the same amount of time (start to finish) as the rotary?

No.