Rupes Mille and LHR19E Rotary

[Ronin47]

Ofcourse Rupes will want and prefer you to use it as a system, it just makes economic sense and ofcourse Rupes and everyone at AG will only state you use it as a system stating best results, balance etc.

As an outsider not affiliated to any company or brand you know you will only get the truth. I use it both as a system and without as there are some awesome compounds out there like CarPro’s Clear Cut which has been giving me amazing results on the Mille.

[Mike Phillips]

Couple of comments on what Ronin47 has posted...

Of course Rupes will want and prefer you to use it as a system, it just makes economic sense

Besides economic sense there is a lot of time and research that went into developing both chemicals and pads that are optimized for the unique action of both tools. So I think it's a stretch to say RUPES will "want and prefer you to use their system because it makes just economic sense. I'd dig a little deeper and say THEY also want everyone to get great results the first time and every time a person purchases their tools, pads and products.

I'm not saying you --> Ronin47 are being cynical with what you wrote but I know there are a lot of cynics as well as experts in the blogosphere that could and would infer that RUPES as a company would actually put out a line of chemicals and pads for soley marketing or sales reasons. I think they've proven themselves to be an upstanding company and that they are in this for the long run, not the make a quick profit and get out short-run.

and ofcourse Rupes and everyone at AG will only state you use it as a system stating best results, balance etc.

I'm part of that and everyone at AG groupe you just reference.

Being probably one of the few people that have used these tools in the United States AND taught a class with one of the primary guys behind the development of the tools, pads and products, PLUS being the guy that discovered and then wrote an article about balance as it relates to RUPES tools, pads and backing plates, this one,

The Air Test - Using NON RUPES pads on RUPES Polishers by Mike Phillips


YES I'm definitely going to strongly recommend ANYONE purhcaseing the new RUPES rotary or Mille plan for and budget for purchaseing the entire system. Then - like I say in the below article,


FLEX 3401 or RUPES? - A question I get asked a lot! -Mike Phillips


Here is a direct quote... note the portion in purple text...

If you're going to go with RUPES then go all in. That means, budget for and purchase a RUPES tool, the matching pads and the matching compounds and polishes.

AFTER you become experienced and skilled with their SYSTEM - then if you want to start experimenting with other pads and products go for it. And if you run into trouble maintaining pad rotation with NON-RUPES pads or if you experience VIBRATION with NON-RUPES pads then you know how to get out of this problem. Simple - go back to RUPES pads.

If you run into trouble with NON-RUPES compounds and polishes then simple - go back to RUPES compounds and polishes.

Of course you can use the RUPES rotary and the Mille with other pads and products. That's common sense.

But don't discount the fact that a lot of time and research DID going into creating the chemicals and engineering the pads specific to these two tools.


I'll send the link to this thread to Jason Rose and Todd Helme and ask them to chime in with their thoughts on this topic. Might as well go to the source.

[Mike Phillips]

Found it.

At the bottom page, last paragraph.

https://www.autogeek.net/rupes-mille...-polisher.html

Tom

And the pertinent text is towards the bottom of the page,

For best results, it is recommended that the RUPES Mille Foam Pads and the corresponding RUPES Mille Chemicals are used with your RUPES LK900E Mille Gear Driven Polisher.

[Ronin47]

I think Rupes would sell even more polishers,pads,products if they actually encouraged using their stuff both as a system and without. Most detailers and hobbyists have dozens or hundreds of pads and gallons of other brands compounds and are deterred from buying a Rupes machine just as other brand machine owners are deterred from buying Rupes pads and polish. Rupes will really be just that much more awesome if they encouraged a more open system.

PS. I like your response Mike.

[Todd@RUPES]

Really really want the both of them---Still have to pay off some of the funds that got me started in this business. The second I pay off---gonna get both!

Probably be a few months before I can pull the trigger. But I am getting them.

I do have a pause---If I understand, you will need to get dedicated Mille pads and polisher. That to me is a concern.

Tom

Hi Tom,

NEED= Required
RECOMMEND = Suggested

RUPES recommends that you use our pads and polishes with MILLE. Why? So you have experience all the machine has to offer in the most comfortable manner possible, while getting results that RUPES' extensive team of engineers and technically-orientated sales personal can help you dial in. In otherwise, when you purchase a RUPES BigFoot System you get a factory-backed team of support.

Gear-driven orbital polishers are unique. The locking of the offset rotary motion (orbit) and direct rotary motion creates a single-action spinning movement that snakes in and out as it turns. This star-like pattern of movement creates a high-frequency vibration that will travel up the users arm, elbow, and shoulder. In other words, you will feel it.

If you hit the rewind button 5-years ago, before BigFoot was really popular, most small-diameter orbital tools (8mm or less) had a lot of vibration. RUPES almost triples the orbital diameter while also reducing vibration on random orbital tools to near zero by using the BigFoot system. We have ALWAYS concerned ourselves with user comfort.

If you compare the Mille to other gear-driven orbital polishers, we have made a number of engineering leaps to reduce steering and increase user of comfort. The transmission of the tool is built in an unique way which reduces heat transfer to the user's arm...

So while careful planning and innovative engineering have created a tool that offers class-leading balance, vibration management, heat management, and torque we knew we could do better. The engineers and product developers at RUPES developed a pad and compound system tuned to the movement of the tool. The compounds quickly spread over the face of the pad and lubricate them, almost eliminating that "up-the-arm" vibration from the initial application onward.

So, the compounds were designed to accentuate the user comfort by making the gear-driven "ride" as smooth as possible. Also, the repeating, single action-like movement, places different stresses on the polishing compounds, so since we were tuning for a dedicated compound anyways, we optimized their performance for the movement.

We are confident that we have raised the bar when it comes to reducing user fatigue and improving user comfort with the Mille polisher, regardless of the consumables it is outfitted with. However, when used with in our system, we have raised the bar even further. The choice is yours.

We also have a number of technicians who already own other brands of gear-driven polisher, using the Mille's pad and compounds, and finding that the superior engineering of the RUPES system helps reduce many of the negative impacts of their polishers while increasing cut and polish.

Sorry for being long winded, I hope this cleans up some of the questions?

[Todd@RUPES]

I think Rupes would sell even more polishers,pads,products if they actually encouraged using their stuff both as a system and without. Most detailers and hobbyists have dozens or hundreds of pads and gallons of other brands compounds and are deterred from buying a Rupes machine just as other brand machine owners are deterred from buying Rupes pads and polish. Rupes will really be just that much more awesome if they encouraged a more open system.

PS. I like your response Mike.

It is an interesting debate with no right answer. When the BigFoot first came to the US, there was a lot of product mixing and matching and a lot of complaints about pads not lasting, performance levels suffering etc. Since then, the after market has caught up.

When the BigFoot (random orbital) pads first came out, there was a lot of puzzled looks as to why they were designed with flared edges, the height, the center hole... Now when you look at the aftermarket options for pads, there is a huge number of pads which have copied the design identically... and a number of companies who have even copied the foam formulas.

As long as the pad properly balances the tool, and you are happy with the performance you get with a different pad (or compound), then great.

Different strokes for different folks, which is why we offer tools with no offset (rotary), 1.5, 3, 5, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 21 mm strokes, as well as the Nano which does 3 movements.

[2old2change]

Thanks for your input Todd.

[manichol]

I have been waiting for a long time for the Flex XCE. After seeing the Mille I’ll probably jump on this. I like all the features of the Mille.

I would like to see a comparison of the two but guess that is not possible...

[dlc95]

I think Rupes would sell even more polishers,pads,products if they actually encouraged using their stuff both as a system and without. Most detailers and hobbyists have dozens or hundreds of pads and gallons of other brands compounds and are deterred from buying a Rupes machine just as other brand machine owners are deterred from buying Rupes pads and polish. Rupes will really be just that much more awesome if they encouraged a more open system.

PS. I like your response Mike.

I feel like they do encourage it.

You have to consider that just after it was brought here, it was immediately modified, and encouraged use was with outside products. That concept took off like wildfire, which is great, but sort of a disservice to all of the research and engineering the manufacturer put into the liquids and pads.

[Ronin47]

I feel like they do encourage it.

You have to consider that just after it was brought here, it was immediately modified, and encouraged use was with outside products. That concept took off like wildfire, which is great, but sort of a disservice to all of the research and engineering the manufacturer put into the liquids and pads.

I’m not denying the system works well, no wait make that great. But I also have my favourite pads and compounds from other brands that also give amazing results on Rupes machines. I’ve recently started using Rupes Zephir again on all my Rupes polishers including the Mille (Yeah yeah Todd I know) and forgot what an awesome one step compound it makes, fantastic abrasive technology.