I use a 1/2 " belt sander, black and decker calls them elec. files, the sander belt is 13 mm. wide, perfect for a 12 mm. wide slider, it took me about 1/2 hour to file out the eight slots, in my variator, this is my second one, I am making a spare variator, with better measurements, I now have multy grit sanding belts ,I start out with 40 grit, then I go to 80 grit, and finish with 220 grit,