Apparatus for forming a multiplicity of thin wafers from at least two similar blocks, the apparatus comprising a supply reel (1) to supply wire, an upper pair of parallel spaced roller guides (3a,3b) having a multiplicity of circumferential grooves on their surfaces, a lower pair of parallel spaced roller guides (3c,3d) having a similar multiplicity of circumferential grooves on their surfaces and spaced apart from the upper pair of roller guides in a plane generally parallel to and spaced apart from a plane defined by the axes of the upper pair of roller guides, and a collection reel (2); the arrangement being such that a wire from the supply reel can pass around successive grooves along the roller guides from near the supply reel to near the collection reel, so to form a four sided continuous web of wires along the length of the roller guides and means to drive the wire rapidly from the supply reel to the collection reel, and means to move the blocks (4) through the web of wire between the pairs of roller guides in a direction generally perpendicular to the axes of the roller guides, so that the blocks are cut into wafers by the action of the moving wire and an abrasive slurry,
in which part way along the roller guides, the wire is diverted around at least two pulley wheels (6a,6b) to remove the wire from the web after it has passed over a roller guide at a predetermined point, and to reintroduce the wire into the web via a subsequent roller guide at a point laterally displaced from the point at which it left the web, so that there is a gap (7) in the web of wire which divides the web into two separate sections, and no cutting action can occur in that gap.