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Polishing is the most important step in preparing a specimen for microstructural analysis. It is the step which is required to completely eliminate previous damage. Ideally the amount of damage produced during cutting and grinding was minimized through proper blade and abrasive grinding so that polishing can be minimized.

Cloths for polishing vary by the height of their fiber, known as the nap and by the stiffness or resiliency of the fiber. In general, the lower nap (also non-woven) and stiffer fiber cloths are used for the rough polishing steps. These types of polishing cloths or pads are very effective in removing sectioning damage done by cutting and coarse grinding. Conversely, higher napped polishing cloths provide a more gentle abrasive interaction for the final polish. The Polishing Pads are available with either a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) or on a magnetic backing. The following is a list of most common polishing cloths:

	CERMESH Metal Mesh cloth - this is a wire mesh material useful for coarse and intermediate lapping/polishing. The texture of this wire allows for the abrasive to become semi-fixed; thus offering the advantage of increased stock removal, while minimizing damage
	POLYPAD Polishing Pad - this cloth is a synthetic polyester polishing pad which has a similar action to a nylon pad, with the exception that it is much more durable. It is used in the intermediate polishing steps
	TEXPAN Polishing Pad - this is the most commonly used polishing cloth material for the intermediate polishing steps. TEXPAN Polishing pad is a non-woven polishing pad.
	Black CHEM 2 Polishing Pad this is a porometric polymer pad which has a consistency similar to a rubber type of pad. Black CHEM 2 pad has a low nap but behaves as an intemediate polishing pad with a performance between low napped and high napped pads.
	DACRON II Polishing Cloth - this is a low napped polishing pad for polishing primarily with 1-15 micron diamond abrasives. The DACRON II pad is the most popular intermediate polishing pad in Europe and is used mostly for polishing metals. Its high nap provides it a very soft and gentle polishing action. Note: DACRON is a registered trade name of DUPONT Corporation.
	NYPAD Polishing Pad - this is a low napped silk polishing pad for intermediate polishing primarily with intermediate diamond abrasives.
	GOLD PAD Polishing Pad is a low napped polishing pad for imtermediate polishing primarily with 1-9 micron diamond.
	ATLANTIS Polishing Pad - is a woven low napped final with a foam backing for better matting to the specimen sample. It is an excellent polishing pad for 1-6 micron diamond.
	MICROPAD Polishing Cloth- this is the most common high napped final polishing pad for most metals and polymers. Its high nap provides it a very soft and gentle polishing action.
	TRICOTE Polishing Pad- a tight high napped final polishing pad for most metals. It has a tigher nap then the MCIROPAD Polishing Pads
	NAPPAD Polishing Pad- this is another high napped final polishing pad useful for most metals and polymers. It has a higher nap than MICROPAD, providing it with a very gentle polishing action which is very useful for polishing soft materials such as copper, aluminun and austentite steels.
	MOLTEC 2 Polishing Pad - this is wool polishing cloth used for final polishing and has a very high nap. It is most commonly used for final polishing metals where edge retention is a minimal consideration.
	FELT PAD Polishing Pad - this is thick felt pad used for final polishing glass and large surface area parts.

• Place pad on a flat lap plate
• Pre-charge pad with abrasive suspension, paste or powder
• Apply necessary lubricant
• Begin polishing with lower force to avoid tearing pad
• Clean specimen and pad for final 10-15 seconds of polishing cycle
• Clean and dry specimens

Polishing can be broken into two stages: rough and final polishing. Proper rough polishing removes all subsurface damage produced during cutting and grinding. In most cases this is accomplished with polycrystalline diamond abrasives and low napped polishing cloths. The final polishing step should be kept to a minimum and used only to clean up surface blemishes. Note that excessive final polishing times can result in phase relief, edge rounding, smeared material and inclusion pull-out. Final polishing is accomplished with high napped cloths and fine graded alumina or colloidal silica abrasives.

To minimize polishing artifacts such as edge rounding, phase relief, smeared metal, grain pull-out and inclusion pull-out, the polishing time needs to be kept to a minimum. This can be accomplished by:

• minimizing sectioning damage
• grinding with the finest feasible abrasives
• using flat polishing base plates

Suggestion: If your polishing plate is not flat within these tolerances they should be lapped to these tighter tolerances.

FELT PAD Polishing Pads (with adhesive backing)

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