Strips lathes without direction (5)

I believe the answer is:

laths

'strips' is the definition.
(I know this)

'lathes without direction' is the wordplay.
'without' suggests deleting specific letters.
'direction' becomes 'e' (E is an example).
'lathes' with 'e' taken away is 'LATHS'.

(Another definition for laths that I've seen is " Thin strips of wood".)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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