RUPES Mille Review by 2black1s

2black1s

2black1s

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Jan 23, 2015
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RUPES Mille Review by 2black1s


My new Rupes Mille arrived today. I'm starting this thread off with my initial impressions of the tool before actually using it and will update it as I put the tool to work, hopefully this weekend.

First thought... I LIKE it! A lot! It is solid feeling and is very well built. A world-class quality tool no doubt. The only thing I'd change if I could at this initial juncture is the mile-long cord, but that is not a reflection on the tool itself, and I was aware of it before making the purchase. I'm just not a fan of these super-long cords.

I'm inclined, without even using it yet, that I made the right choice in its purchase. I did give it a quick dry-pad-run over my kitchen table just to feel it out. No surprises there.

Can't wait the put it to real use. Stay tuned.

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And the engineer in me had to know how it works so some explorative surgery was in order...

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The only engineering/design feature that I might have done differently is the "keying" of the counterweight. As it is you could install the counterweight 180 degrees out of phase. With a slight change to the keying feature that could have been prevented by only allowing installation one way.



:buffing:
 
Re: Rupes Mille Review

You could swap out the power cord to one of their shorter ones. I did that with their mini that had the long cord on it.
 
Nice review and pictures.

One thing for sure, RUPES builds quality tools. :xyxthumbs:


I'm really looking forward to your review and experience with this gear-driven orbital polisher, especially since you're a long-time rotary guy.


Subscribed.


:buffing:
 
Tried out the Rupes Mille for 2-3 hours today for the first time.

I used my neighbor’s truck hood (Chevy Colorado) as the test specimen. It’s a medium/dark blue-gray metallic paint that is far from pristine. Swirls, RIDS (Random Isolated Deeper Scratches), bird etchings, and just a general hazy look to it. Perfect to put the Mille through its paces. In all honesty, if I wasn’t testing out the Rupes Mille, my rotary w/wool would have been the chosen tool for the first step. Nevertheless, today was a Mille day. And no "light polish" test spot was required... It was more like how many compounding steps will I need.


The Process (Note that only the hood was addressed)

- Waterless Wash
- Clay
- Compound; Meg’s 110 w/ Rupes D-A Coarse Cutting Pad (Blue 5-6”) and Meg’s Soft Buff Cutting Pad (Maroon 5”)
- Polish; Meg’s 210 w/ Rupes D-A Fine Polishing Pad (Yellow 5-6”) and Meg’s Soft Buff Polishing Pad (Yellow 5”)
- Sealant; Meg’s 21 by hand

I started the compounding step using the Rupes pad noted above. Now mind you, this is my first ever experience with a Forced Rotation Orbital so I was curious as to how it would feel. Generally speaking, it felt quite natural to me. There was no real learning curve to speak of. But something about the Rupes pad felt “off”. It was too firm and felt like it just skated along the surface. I did a couple sections and then decided to try the Meg’s pad noted above and liked it much better. I finished the compounding step with the Meg’s pad. And note, there is only about 1/4” diameter difference between the Rupes 5-6” and the Meg’s 5” pads.

I repeated the compounding step twice over the entire hood. I’m not a “count your section-passes” kind of guy, more of a “timed buffing period” type, so I can’t tell you exactly how many section-passes I made but I buffed for a period of time that would be proportionate to roughly 6-8 section-passes for each of the two compounding steps. This removed all of the paint defects that I dared to address, leaving behind only some of the deeper RIDS and etchings.

Next, I refined the finish with the polishing step. Again, like I did with the compounding step, I started with the Rupes pad. This yellow pad felt much better polishing than the blue pad felt compounding so I continued on… But I thought, let’s try a Meg’s polishing pad. And again, I preferred the Meg’s pad.

Finally, I applied Meg’s 21 sealant by hand.


My Impressions

The Mille performed as well as I expected it would. I love how the 5mm orbit handled the concave contours leading into body lines, which there are five of on this particular Chevy Colorado hood. The only tool that could handle these areas any better would be a rotary with a flexible backing plate and pad and/or your hand. The tool was smooth and comfortable at any speed setting. Most of the compounding was performed at speeds 5-6 (mostly 6) and the polishing at 4-5 (mostly 5). I did slow the speed down in the contours and loved how you could do that without any pad stalling.

I am 100% satisfied with the Polisher at this point. No "buyer's remorse" here.

The pads… Unlike the Polisher, the jury is still out on the Rupes pads. I’m not giving up on them yet but I’m also not ordering a bunch either. Not yet anyways as I did prefer the Meg’s pads over the Rupes pads, and especially so with the cutting pad (Blue vs. Maroon).

Next go-around I'm going to try the Meg's Soft Buff 2.0 7" pads I have. I tried them on the Rupes 6" backing plate (after I was finished for today) and they fit perfectly. I think I read here on this forum that many of Mike's students preferred thicker pads on Forced Rotation Orbitals and the Soft Buff 2.0s fit that description perfectly as they are a full 1" thick and a 1 1/4" thick at the edge.



General Observations

Pros:
- You can work a larger area with the Forced Rotation Orbital than you could with a Random Orbital.
- Zero pad stalling.
- Clockwise rotation (as opposed to other Forced Rotation Orbitals)
- While smoothest with the pad flat, you can skew the pad when necessary/appropriate, and again, no pad stalling.

Cons;
- With the tool function, none really, so I'll throw this in... Pad cleaning on the fly, using a brush, is a tad more difficult on the Forced Rotation Orbital than on a Random Orbital because you can’t freely rotate the pad by hand.

Neutral;
- When using a Random Orbital, I tend to apply my product nearest to the outer circumference of the pad as the product tends to migrate to the center during the polishing cycle. That was not the case with the Mille. The product seemed to stay more or less where you put it (circumferentially), so I found myself applying some product closer to the center of the pad.

- The Forced Rotation Orbital is much more closely related to a Random Orbital than to a Rotary in its feel and function. Rotaries are still in a class of their own. If you’re thinking of a Forced Rotation Orbital tool to replace your Rotary – IT ISN'T HAPPENING! While it's possible that some wool or microfiber pads might get you closer, I only had foam pads to try today, so I really can't say. Regardless, I don't see this tool ever matching a Rotary in sheer correction ability and/or speed.

That’s it for now.

I have a Chevy Volt tentatively scheduled, in better condition than this Chevy Colorado, for an AIO process. The Volt will be more in-line with my intended use of the Mille and I’ll add my thoughts on the Mille and that process when completed.


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For the times that I will be using the Rupes pads here's a quick and easy way to center the pad without any wasted effort or time eyeballing the pad into place. A simple yet effective guide pin...

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My guide pin is a 3/4" wooden dowel with a couple coats of urethane to smooth and seal the wood fibers. It could be made of any material but this is what I had on hand. A nylon dowel would be the perfect material but I didn't have any of that laying around.

You could also try a deep-well socket in the 9/16s or 14mm range to use as the guide. Then you don't have to make anything.
 
Glad to hear you like it. I’d suggest spending some more time with the Rupes yellow pad. I grew up with rotary and when I got my first Flex 3401 years ago it felt natural as well. I to was thrown off some when I started using the Rupes pads, but after forcing myself to use them more, the yellow has become one of the best pads I’ve ever used.
 
Good to hear that your initial impression of the Millie was a good one. You are right about nothing cut faster than a rotary but in all fairness...with todays modern thin paint, one hardly ever needs it. Pair the millie up with the Rupes coarse wool pad and you will be amazed at how close it can get to the rotary.
 
fly07sti said:
Glad to hear you like it. I’d suggest spending some more time with the Rupes yellow pad. I grew up with rotary and when I got my first Flex 3401 years ago it felt natural as well. I to was thrown off some when I started using the Rupes pads, but after forcing myself to use them more, the yellow has become one of the best pads I’ve ever used.
Click to expand...

I hear you... I'm definitely going to use the Rupes pads again. I'm not writing them off quite yet.

Actually, I didn't have any issue with the yellow pad even though I preferred the Meg's pad by a slight margin after trying it. I could definitely see myself becoming accustomed to the Rupes yellow pad with a little more "pad" time.

The blue pad, that's a different story. It felt so far "off" to me that its prognosis is not as promising as the yellow, but I will certainly give it another try.

I also have, but did not try yet, the Rupes Ultra-Fine white pads.
 
I never got in the groove with the blue pad either. The only time I really put them through there paces was on a friends boat and they felt much better on gelcoat.
 
2black1s said:
The pads… Unlike the Polisher, the jury is still out on the Rupes pads. I’m not giving up on them yet but I’m also not ordering a bunch either.

Not yet anyways as I did prefer the Meg’s pads over the Rupes pads, and especially so with the cutting pad (Blue vs. Maroon).
Click to expand...


2black1s said:
The blue pad, that's a different story. It felt so far "off" to me that its prognosis is not as promising as the yellow, but I will certainly give it another try.
Click to expand...



fly07sti said:
I never got in the groove with the blue pad either. The only time I really put them through there paces was on a friends boat and they felt much better on gelcoat.
Click to expand...


Great minds think alike?


I recently wrote this new article,


Mike Phillips recommended foam pads for the FLEX Family of BEAST 8mm Gear-Driven Orbital Polishers



Here's what I wrote about the NEW blue foam cutting pad from RUPES - introduced in their new DA System.

Last paragraph in first post

Mike Phillips said:
Also - for what it's worth, I have not arrived to the point where I like the new RUPES Blue foam cutting pad.

I have not given up on it yet, but I find myself still preferring the Lake Country Orange Force Hybrid pad for cutting, compounding, paint correction - whatever you prefer to call aggressive work.
Click to expand...


Historically I show the OLD blue foam cutting pad from RUPES in my boat classes for the polishing step because gelcoat don't like soft, gushy pads for polishing/abrading. Sharp pads work best. That said, I'm still not liking the new foam formula for the new RUPES blue foam cutting pad. I've tried to use it a bunch of times and it spits out product worse than the old blue foam pad.


My boat class is this weekend so I'll let the class try them and see what they think. As for now, the best replacement I've found for the OLD RUPES blue foam cutting pads is the Buff and Shine


7 Inch Coarse Blue Heavy Cutting Foam Pad



Of course, the above in in the context of polishing gel-coat, not car paint.


:buffing:
 
Mike Phillips said:
Great minds think alike?


I recently wrote this new article,


Mike Phillips recommended foam pads for the FLEX Family of BEAST 8mm Gear-Driven Orbital Polishers



Here's what I wrote about the NEW blue foam cutting pad from RUPES - introduced in their new DA System.

Last paragraph in first post




Historically I show the OLD blue foam cutting pad from RUPES in my boat classes for the polishing step because gelcoat don't like soft, gushy pads for polishing/abrading. Sharp pads work best. That said, I'm still not liking the new foam formula for the new RUPES blue foam cutting pad. I've tried to use it a bunch of times and it spits out product worse than the old blue foam pad.


My boat class is this weekend so I'll let the class try them and see what they think. As for now, the best replacement I've found for the OLD RUPES blue foam cutting pads is the Buff and Shine


7 Inch Coarse Blue Heavy Cutting Foam Pad



Of course, the above in in the context of polishing gel-coat, not car paint.


:buffing:
Click to expand...

I too noticed that "spitting out of product" and I thought to myself "what am I doing wrong?" It was actually slinging off the edge of the pad during the buffing cycle. Glad to see that maybe it wasn't "me".

But what gave me the most disfavor, and what I felt right from the very start, is that it didn't want to conform to even the slightest contour, like a gentle crown in a basically flat panel. It felt like I was using a brick for a pad.
 
I finished up my first complete AIO job using the Rupes Mille last night. The car came out beautifully. In fact, the owner made the comment that the car, a 2016 Chevy Volt w/ 80,000 miles on the clock, has never looked so good.

The Process

- Waterless Wash
- Clay
- AIO (Meg's D166)
- Polisher: Rupes Mille; Griot's G3 3" Rotary for the front bumper
- Pads: Rupes D-A 6" Yellow Fine Polishing & Meguiar's Soft Buff 2.0 7" Maroon Cutting

Here's just a few pics, then I'll get on with some comments...

One "Before" sun-shot that shows some of the swirls...
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Then the "After" sun-shot. I shot this immediately after finishing the hood (the first panel completed) as I was running out of sunlight and knew this would be my last opportunity. I wanted to confirm my results were looking good in direct sunlight. I knew they would, but its nice to check anyways...
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A couple in-work shots...
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And finally, the finished shots...
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The Mille & The Pads

The Mille performed flawlessly. I can't tell you how much I enjoy the "no stall" aspect of this gear-driven orbital polisher. Other than the "no-stall" characteristic it feels very much like any other conventional random orbital, just a bit more aggressive. The additional effort required to control that aggressiveness is minimal. It is there, but it's not bad. And some of the additional effort may be attributable to the product being used (see my "General Observations" below).

I wanted to try the 7" Meguiars Soft Buff 2.0 pads I have on hand along with the Rupes 6" D-A pads so I did a test spot on the hood with each. Each pad (Meg's maroon & Rupes yellow) produced similarly acceptable results. In fact, stunning results. I didn't even try out a Meg's Soft Buff 2.0 Yellow Polishing Pad as the Maroon Cutting Pad provided the finished result I was looking for.

I opted to start my process using the Meg's 7" pad. All of the horizontal panels were finished with this pad. I then switched to the Rupes 6" pad for the side panels as I wanted to get more pad-time with them.

General Observations

One thing that I did notice, and I attribute it partially to the product I was using (D166), is that it gets a little "grabby" during the polishing cycle. Much moreso than a straight polish. Call it tacky, grabby, sticky, etc., or whatever you would describe it as, but it was noticeable to the extent that the polisher would rock, or pivot, slightly at times. Not enough that it was uncontrollable, but enough to get your attention. Going forward, I'll be paying attention to how much of this disturbance is attributable to the product and how much is attributable to the gear-driven nature of the Mille.

Any comments on this observation of mine would be appreciated. Do you notice this "sticky" trait with AIOs? Maybe some Blackfire with its stellar reviews is in order? Regardless, the end result with the D166 was as good as anyone could expect.

As for the pads, I haven't settled on a clear favorite yet, but either of the two I used this go-around could eventually make it to that slot.
 
Yesterday I also did my first AIO with the Supa BEAST using Blackfire One Step and also got a tit of the grab you described, not a ton but every once in a while.

I tried 4 different pads....
- Rupes yellow
- Carpro Orange
- Buff & Shine green
- Buff & Shine yellow

Both the Rupes and CarPro are low profile pads.
The Buff & Shine pads are thicker and with those two I got little to no grab and I would attribute it to being more forgiving with them being thicker.

The Rupes and CarPro pads definitely corrected a bit better.
Those were just a couple quick observations for me....


I also did a electric vehicle lol. Toyota Prius and can honestly say the gear driven da is nothing short of amazing.
I blew through that thing in record time and got absolutley stunning results.
 
Lol @ Cut the Vord!!!

I did the same with my Rupes Rotary. Just too long for my liking when storing. I understand why some like it and the point of a long cord. Just not for me.


Glad you are enjoying your new toy!!!
 
Today I did another AIO job with the Mille. My daughter's 2018 Kia Soul, white.

I love this thing and am very happy with my purchase. I've got about 10 hours of tool-time so far with a few different pads and products...

Products
- All Meguiar's
- - 110 Compound
- - 210 Polish
- - 166 AIO
- - 6 AIO

Pads
- Rupes D-A 6"
- Meg's Soft Buff 2.0 7"
- Meg's Soft Buff 5"

As of this time, after experimenting with various configurations of the above pads, i.e., cutting, polishing, finishing, I gotta say the the 5" Meg's pads seem to be my favorite with the Mille. I have a couple Rupes medium wool pads ordered and want to try them. We'll see how they compare when I get them.
 
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