The RUPES LHR21ES Random Orbit Polisher and Polishing System by Mike Phillips

[Eric M.]

Hi Mike, great review of the rupes.. enjoy all the detailed info. I do have one question. I'm torn between the Rupes 21 and the flex 3401. If you had to use machine what would you grab and why?

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Mike, great review of the rupes.. enjoy all the detailed info. I do have one question. I'm torn between the Rupes 21 and the flex 3401. If you had to use machine what would you grab and why?


Hi Eric,

Great question! And your first post!


I've never been on record stating there is such a thing as a single best tool. Not once.

Here's a question for you....


What kind of detailing work do you do right now?


A. Production Detailing - One and two-step procedures for a lower price point on primarily daily drivers.


B. Show Car Detailing - Multiple Step Procedures for a higher charge to the customer with primarily special interest cars.


Or, if you don't currently detail cars but are getting into this craft, what's your background experience and what type of market do you want to go after?



:xyxthumbs:

[Mike Phillips]

Speed settings i've had great results with.

Blue Pad with Zephir on 5/6
Green Pad with Zephir on 4.5/6
Green Pad Quarz on 5/6
Yellow Pad with Quarz on 4 to 4.5/6
Yellow pad with Keramik on 4.5 to 5/6
White pad with keramik, all over the chart form 3 to 5/6
White pad with diamond, again all over from 3 to 5/6

Thanks in advance
Jonathan


I'd say I'm on the same page with you as to your speed settings except with the white pads and I'm still on the 5-6 speed settings. I find I really need to be at the higher speed settings to maintain good pad rotation especially if you are buffing any type of curved panels. If you're not trying to refine the paint after a previous step then you can bump down to slower speeds but this would also be akin to machine applying a finishing wax.

Since the Rupes polishers are not direct drive it is possible for the pad to slow rotation down when buffing on edges or curved panels, I pointed this out after the first car I buffed out with this tool, a 1955 Ford Crown Victoria. I also stated that it was key to focus on the task at hand and monitor pad rotation and adjust how you hold the body of the tool to keep the pad as flat as possible to the surface when buffing.


This is page 4 of my Crown Victoria write up...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/60706-rupes-side-side-detail-1955-crown-victoria-4.html


See my comments throughout the posts on the above page.



:)

[Eric M.]

Hi Eric,

Great question! And your first post!


I've never been on record stating there is such a thing as a single best tool. Not once.

Here's a question for you....


What kind of detailing work do you do right now?


A. Production Detailing - One and two-step procedures for a lower price point on primarily daily drivers.


B. Show Car Detailing - Multiple Step Procedures for a higher charge to the customer with primarily special interest cars.


Or, if you don't currently detail cars but are getting into this craft, what's your background experience and what type of market do you want to go after?



:xyxthumbs:

Thanks for the quick reply. Wow!

I'd say its 80% daily drivers and 20% show cars. I've recently teamed up with a local automotive restorer so I expect the ratios to change slightly. I have a few years experience all on the PC and I'd like to think I have good technique. (Will post an intro with pics of my work). Hope that's enough info. Based on that criteria what would you purchase?

Thanks
Eric

[aircrewjake]

Mike,
I am currently using a wet-sand then compound with a Flex rotary. 2-3 stage. Then da polish then seal or wax . Obviously this is the most aggressive possible, so can the rupes follow wet sanding? Also can it really replace the cutting power of a rotary? and lastly have you tested other compound lines with this tool? Meg., Menzerna.
Thanks your the time you put into your write ups it is truly helpful. :dblthumb2:

[Mike Phillips]

Thanks for the quick reply. Wow!

I'd say its 80% daily drivers and 20% show cars.



I'd say that's a pretty normal ratio for most detailers.





I've recently teamed up with a local automotive restorer so I expect the ratios to change slightly. I have a few years experience all on the PC and I'd like to think I have good technique. (Will post an intro with pics of my work). Hope that's enough info. Based on that criteria what would you purchase?

Thanks
Eric


Since you already have a polisher with a free spinning drive mechanism, I'd lean towards the Flex 3401 which is forced rotation, forced oscillation.

You cannot stop the pad on a Flex 3401 from rotating. Can't be done. This means no matter what the shape of the body panel, if you're doing correction work or polishing work, two steps that abrade the paint to make it look nicer, then the tool is working.

Anytime a pad stops rotating or rotating enough to not abrade the paint then no work is being done.

The above is just an observation about the differences between the Flex 3401 and ANY tool that has a free rotating drive action.


That said, the best way to figure out which tool you're going to like is to test them all out by buffing on real cars. You get to do this at all my detailing boot camp classes.

If you like, I can post picture after picture showing my students using all the tools, that's easy enough to do. Here's a few pictures from a recent boot camp class of the tools everyone used...



http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_007c.jpg

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http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_026.jpg




My next Detailing Boot Camp Class is at the end of September. This class always fills up fast and you'll get a chance to use all the popular tools on the marked, a wide variety of product lines and you'll also get to learn how to wetsand by machine.


The link to sign-up is at the top of every page, just click on the graphic at the top of each page or click on the graphic below.


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/722/SeptemberBootCampClass03.jpg (http://www.autogeek.net/detailing-boot-camp.html)



:)

[Mike Phillips]

Getting to use the Rupes Bigfoot Polishers at Autogeek's Detailing Bootcamp Classes....



Removing Swirls and Scratches

Next up, the guys are going to get some hands-on time behind the pneumatic 15 and pneumatic Mini Polishers (http://www.autogeek.net/rupes-polishers.html).
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_066.jpg


Rupes 21
Giving Mike a little hands-on training on arm speed, pattern and downward pressure, this is the first time Mike had ever used the Rupes 21 polisher...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_067.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_068.jpg


Rupes 15
Working with Derek and the Rupes 15 Polisher...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_069.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_070.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_071.jpg



Both guys have experience using Porter Cable and Griot's Garage DA Polishers and picked up really quick on how to use the Rupes polishers...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_072.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_073.jpg

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http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_087.jpg



For getting the thin panel between the hood and the stainless steel trim we used the Rupes LHR75 3 Inch Pneumatic Random Orbital Polisher (http://www.autogeek.net/rupes-lhr75-pneumatic-polisher.html)

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_088.jpg

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http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_091.jpg



:buffing:

[Mike Phillips]

Getting to use the Flex 3401 at Autogeek's Detailing Boot Camp Classes...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_092.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_093.jpg


A little hands-on training to show how much downward pressure and arm speed for moving the tool over the surface.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_094.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_095.jpg

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http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_097.jpg


Here we're inspecting the results using the Brinkmann Swirl Finder Light and it's pretty easy to see the swirls and scratches are now gone and what remains is swirl-free finish.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_098.jpg


Derek and Mike finished the front so now they're testing out the Flex 3401's for the first time and now they can compare how these tools work as compared to the Rupes they just used on the front clip.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_099.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_100.jpg

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http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1768/The_Art_of_Polishing_Paint_1Class_104.jpg


:buffing:

[Mike Phillips]

Mike,
I am currently using a wet-sand then compound with a Flex rotary. 2-3 stage. Then da polish then seal or wax .

That's very tired and true process that works really well and one I use myself.


[QUOTE=aircrewjake;898443]

Obviously this is the most aggressive possible, so can the rupes follow wet sanding?



Yes. You can use the Rupes Bigfoot polishers to remove sanding marks. My recommendation would be to finish out at the highest grit level you can manage to make removing the sanding marks as easy as possible.

Here's what I say all the time about this topic and I even say it in this video here,

Questions about Meguiar's M105, M101 and M100 Compounds? Watch this video! (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-car-garage-how-videos/66696-questions-about-meguiar-s-m105-m101-m100-compounds-watch-video.html)


It already takes a long time to complete sand down a car and then remove 100% of the sanding marks using a rotary buffer, (the most powerful tool), why would I want to do it in any way that would make the process take longer?


Point being, when I have to remove sanding marks I want to get in and get done and the fastest, most effective way to remove sanding marks is by using a rotary buffer with a wool pad and an aggressive compound.





Also can it really replace the cutting power of a rotary?



The way you worded the above question the answer is "yes".

If I re-word the question like this,

"Is the Rupes Bigfoot polisher as powerful as a rotary buffer?"

Then the answer is no and that also goes for ALL other tools we all currently use to machine polish paint including, the Porter Cable, the Cyclo, the Flex 3401, the Meguiar's G110v2, the Griot's Garage DA Polisher.

Make sense?

You use a rotary buffer, you know how much power this tool has to remove paint quickly.

I do think you can sand, then cut out the sanding marks using a rotary and the switch over to a Rupes for the final polishing steps to ensure a hologram free finish and that is the goal of any true professional.




and lastly have you tested other compound lines with this tool? Meg., Menzerna.



I've been asked to show the Rupes polishers with Rupes chemicals and pads and since we've brought this line in that has been what I have faithfully done. I have let my Thursday night guys use them with other chemicals, but normally the Rupes pads and have seen nothing but good results.

One of my jobs here at Autogeek is to represent other companies and stick to their message. Forum members are free to do as they will, they are not under any restrictions or obligations.





Thanks your the time you put into your write ups it is truly helpful. :dblthumb2:




Thank you and your welcome...


:)