We saw back in column 6 that it is sometimes an advantage to use narrower belts on the WASP sander. For those jobs where you need to reach up into tight corners or to direct your sanding to a more concentrated area a thinner belt can be more appropriate - better for knife sharpening too.

Cutting these bands from a standard sized belt is easy using a knife and steel rule, but it is a little time consuming.

If you find you are doing this often you will find this little DIY device well worth the time to make.

Set it at the required size and use it like a cutting gauge.

Here is an exploded view of the parts - you may see variations to this design to suit the materials available to you.

Here is a simpler and therefore quicker to make design - no adjustment possible but OK if you are always using the same size bands.

A short note to ‘Blowfly' sander owners: If you are loading your ‘Blowfly' with abrasive strip you often need to reduce the width to fit - the belt slitter will be very useful here too.