Review: RUPES BIGFOOT MILLE LK 900E by Mike Phillips

Almost had my RUPES Mille for a week now. :buffing:

I have polished out two vehicles with it so far, one being a Nissan Pathfinder with paint condition . . . . horrible to be honest. Severe water spots, swirls & enough RIDS to not be classed as "random". I used this as an experimental canvas to try the RUPES Mille system, utilising the various pads, polishes & compounds, & of course changing it up a bit with other manufacturers pads, polishes & compounds in differing combinations. All types of defects were destroyed in its path & a beautiful finish was all that remained.

One of the first things I noticed was how tall the Mille is & this is amplified if you stray from a thin pad too but all in all it is a taller machine & this didn't hinder performance any, even around & under wing mirrors wasn't any trouble at all.
Second thing that stood out was the speed. I knew it spun fast but a little surprised at first as to how fast.

Feel of machine in hand is nice & performance is right on point, so far the RUPES Mille has my tick of approval. :buffing:


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Looking forward to working with the RUPES Mille some more tomorrow & into the future . . .


Aaryn NZ. :dblthumb2:

Aaryn,

The lighting in your shop looks impressive! Your photos really show how bright it is. Looks beautiful by the way.

Glad to hear you’re enjoying the Mille.

Bob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RSW

The movement between the pad and the paint is what creates cut. To figure out which machine has more cut you have to take into account the RPMs and then, how much real movement there is in each revolution. The orbit adds movement but in order to know if that movement adds enough to be greater than the movement provided by the Makita's 790 RPMs and 8.7 omp's per rpm.

The other thing to take into account is the Rupes larger backing plate. The bigger plate will provide more movement on the outside edge. The edge of the 6 inch pad moves 18.84 inches per revolution and the edge of the 5 inch pad moves 15.7 So, the makita's 790 RPMS and 5 inch pad make 12,403 inches of movement before we take into account the orbits - about nine per revolution. The Rupes on the other hand with the 6 inch backing plate and 535 rpms makes 10,079 inches of movement per minute, again, before we take into account the opms.

9 orbits of 5mm makes about 4,800 inches of movement per minute so we can add that to the 12,403 and we have 17,222 per minute for the Makita.

14 orbits of 5mm makes 4629 inches of movement per minute and again, we add that to the 10,079 and we have 14,709 per minute for the Rupes.

LET ME SAY THIS RIGHT NOW -- the formulas I used for this aren't correct, I don't know exactly how to calculate the travel of the pads against the paint taking into account the two movements - the rotations and the orbits at the same time - but I used the same methods for each machine, so while the math may not be exactly right, I have good confidence in the conclusion. The Makita cuts faster.

That said, if I were just starting out and had to pick one - the Rupes, without any hesitation because it spins the same direction as the rotary and if I didn't know how to run a rotary I'd be getting used to the way they move by using the Rupes. Also, if I already knew how to run a rotary, all that muscle memory and skill I'd developed would translate right to the Rupes. It might be slower, but in the end, it has the difference that matters.

I'm not going to give up my Makitas to switch because I've been running them since 2002 and have that movement wired. When Rupes comes out with the new Mille, the one that spins 800 to 850 and has the grip on the top that would make that work - I will buy that.

RSW

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Say your right on your math..that means Makita will be even more as it's actually 5.5 and not 5
You can get a 6in plate from Australia or just use a 21mm longthrow plate

But this makes sense.. when I installed a 3in BP on my PO5000C it seemed less powerful at correction speed than it did with the 5in..I just thought it was the Force pads being weak compared to low pros and thin pros

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mike@ShineStruck

Say your right on your math..that means Makita will be even more as it's actually 5.5 and not 5
You can get a 6in plate from Australia or just use a 21mm longthrow plate

But this makes sense.. when I installed a 3in BP on my PO5000C it seemed less powerful at correction speed than it did with the 5in..I just thought it was the Force pads being weak compared to low pros and thin pros

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Rupes makes a backing plate you can put on, you just have to be careful not to use the wrong hex head bolt. I used the old Makita bolt. What worries me about running a 6 inch backing plate is that it will put more stress on the machine. I'd be careful to watch for overheating.

RSW

You can get factory 6in for Makita over seas...next month they should have a factory 3in out
I was going to purchase a Kamikaze duetto plate, but I'll just wait for the factory plate

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BucboyInPa

Thanks Mike, I knew I could ask and get the low down!

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Yeah I should have remembered those pictures showing just how long the cord was but sometimes it's hard to hit 100%

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BucboyInPa

Order going in!

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Cool. Please be sure to share your thoughts after buffing out a few cars.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LEDetailing

Aaryn,

The lighting in your shop looks impressive! Your photos really show how bright it is. Looks beautiful by the way.

Glad to hear you’re enjoying the Mille.

Bob

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I agree, a well lit shop saves tons of time, makes work faster and easier and help you to identify paint defects when doing the initial inspection.



:dblthumb2:

This thread referenced here,


Rupes Mille with standard pads?



:)

have you tried the lake country force pads with the mille mike?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by john b

have you tried the lake country force pads with the mille mike?

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No, not yet. They are a tick on the really thick side but they should work great. They work great on the BEAST and the CBEAST.


:)

When are the MarkIII’s shipping out?


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