A chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) conditioning apparatus is provided. The CMP conditioning apparatus is designed to connect to a positioning arm which is capable of applying the conditioning apparatus to a processing surface. Embodiments of the CMP conditioning apparatus include a housing configured to connect to the positioning arm, and one side of the housing having a concave gimbal surface. A puck holder that a convex gimbal surface configured to mate with the concave gimbal surface of the housing is further provided. Thee puck holder receives a conditioning puck that has an attach surface and an active surface. The concave gimbal surface and the convex gimbal surface define a projected gimbal point at about a plane defined at about the active surface of the conditioning puck.