2003 XC70: pulsing brakes...

[carboncow]

That's the article I always reference when people say "warped", I agree..it just doesn't happen.

That's a lot to digest for just trying to get street brakes right. 25 years of doing my own brakes and something is all of a sudden going wrong in the process for me. I'm going to have to re-research my ceramic bed in technique and I guarantee the rotors have deposits of sorts.

[regent]

... when people say "warped", I agree..it just doesn't happen...

In reality, warpage does happen when the material (grey iron) used for the rotor does not meet spec (uneven crystal structure, excessive amount of impurities, inclusions, residual stress present in it, etc.)
When subjected to thermal stress, such material will display anisotropic behavior (like uneven rate of thermal expansion) and may eventually change shape or warp and even crack. Statistically, this is a far less frequent scenario than the 'thickness variation' failure.