COMMON MECHANICAL PREPLATE FINISHING TECHNIQUES USE A TWO PART APPROACH. ROUGHING ESTABLISHES A KNOWN SCRATCH PATTERN WHILE PROVIDING GEOMETRY OR TOLERANCE. CUSHIONED ABRASIVES ARE PROVIDING WIDER USE IN BOTH ROUGHING AND FINISHING DUE TO THEIR ABILITIES TO PRODUCE A PLATEABLE FINISH IN FEWER STEPS WITHOUT BUFFING. THE USE OF CUSHIONED ABRASIVES IN THE ROUGHING/FINISHING PREPLATE PROCESS ILLUSTRATES THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE USE OF FIXED CRYSTAL COATED ABRASIVE AND THE FLOATING CRYSTAL DESIGN OF A CUSHIONED ABRASIVE. CASE STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THE COST EFFECTIVENESS OF A CUSHIONED ABRASIVE AS A PREPLATE FINISHING MATERIAL.