How Resin Diamond Smoothing Pads Work
It's a Fine Line
Resin-based diamond pads work very differently from your standard electroplated diamond disk. While the diamonds on an electroplated disk are locked into place on the disk's surface with the nickel plating, the resin-based diamond pads have the diamond mixed into a phenolic resin coated onto an optical synthetic felt substrate.
The resulting layer of diamond stays flexible on the surface of the softer felt material.
When your glass passes over the embedded diamond on a resin diamond pad, the diamonds will shift slightly and provide a finer scratch on the glass. This allows the diamond to achieve a finer surface on the glass than possible with an electroplated diamond, making subsequent polishing of that glass surface faster and easier.
Keep It Working
Smoothing pads will wear out faster than electroplated disks due to the nature of the resin material. You can generally expect to use two to three Resin Diamond Smoothing pads in the lifespan of a typical plated disk. Once the Resin Diamond Smoothing Pad has worn to the point where it needs to be replaced, it can still be used after a new Smoothing Pad to cut your polishing time down dramatically.
It's Important to Brush
Since Smoothing Pads use a resin matrix on a felt substrate, it is a porous material and will need to have the ground glass cleaned out of the pad occasionally. This is quickly done with a wire-bristled smoothing pad brush. Just run the brush from the center of the pad to the edge while the grinder is running with water, and then flush with water to clear out the ground glass from the pad.
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