Abstract: A burnishing head, which is used to polish the surface of carriers that hold magnetic media (e.g., disks for computer hard drives), includes a slider that is mounted on a suspension. The slider includes at least four protrusions that protrude toward the surface to be polished. The protrusions are arranged symmetrically relative to the center of the slider. The sum of the surface areas of the protrusions is no more than approximately 20% of the total surface area of the slider that faces the surface to be polished. Preferably the sum of the surface areas of the protrusions is no more than 10%, even more preferably, no more than 7%, of the total surface area of the slider that faces the surface to be polished.