Slide thin strips through the sander on a nonslip carrier

To make thin hardwood strips for edging and Shaker-style boxes, I bandsawed stock to rough thickness and then tried to sand the pieces to final thickness—about ¹⁄₈ "—on my drum sander. As the strips approached ³⁄₁₆ ", however, they would sometimes break. I solved the problem by gluing 120-grit sandpaper to a ¹⁄₄ x6x36" piece of hardboard. Now the thin wood rides through the sander perfectly on the carrier board, and I can sand strips uniformly to ¹⁄₈ " or thinner regardless of grain. —Thomas L. Peters, Midland, Mich.