Abstract: A technique based on contact pressure compensation is presented in order to quicken the convergence of surface of large-aperture optical components during the pre-polishing processes. The pad surface is conditioned to a specific shape using an innovative pad conditioning technique, and thus the non-uniform distribution of contact pressure will be engendered at the interface between workpiece and polishing pad. Combining with accurate polishing speed controlling, the uneven pressure distribution will make workpiece’s surface converge to the desired shape more quickly, which was verified by our experiments. The experiments also indicate that conditioning pad surface to convex can avoid excessive removal of workpiece edge region during the early stages of polishing process. Compared to the t