Method of polishing work

A method of polishing a work in a polishing apparatus, comprising:

• a sun gear;
• an internal gear;
• a carrier for holding the work, said carrier engaging with said sun gear and said internal gear;
• an upper polishing plate;
• and a lower polishing plate, wherein the work is polished by said upper polishing plate and said lower polishing plate, which are rotated in the opposite directions, said method comprising:
• polishing the work held in the carrier for an initial first period by:
• changing a rotational speed of at least one of said sun gear, said internal gear, said upper polishing plate and said lower polishing plate a plurality of times, around predetermined standard rotational speeds while polishing the work;
• measuring rotation torque of a driving motor of at least one of said sun gear and said internal gear at each of the changed rotational speeds;
• and
• detecting a minimum rotation torque of the measured rotational torques while said sun gear, said internal gear, said upper polishing plate and said lower polishing plate are rotated at predetermined standard rotational speeds, and while the rotation torque of at least one of said sun gear, said internal gear, said upper polishing plate and said lower polishing plate is measured by changing the rotational speed thereof more than once with respect to the standard rotational speeds thereof;
• and
• polishing the work held in the carrier for a main second period following said initial first period by:
• adjusting the rotational speed of at least one of said sun gear, said internal gear, said upper polishing plate and said lower polishing plate so as to make the rotation torque thereof equal to a running rotation torque, the running rotation torque being greater by a prescribed value than the minimum rotation torque,
• whereby a load applied to said carrier is minimized while polishing the work.