Saw guide

Claim 1

A guide for portable circular saws having a supporting member adapted for sliding along a surface, said guide comprising: an elongated, rigid frame having a flat bottom surface, said frame being adapted to extend across an item to be sawed; an abutment secured to the frame and depending therefrom, said abutment including a flat surface in position to be engaged against an edge of the item; block means slidably mounted on the frame in longitudinally spaced apart relationship from said abutment flat surface and depending from the frame in disposition to engage against a second edge of the item to clamp the latter between the abutment and the block means; said frame having an elongated, rigid rib intermediate the sides of the frame and extending longitudinally of the latter, said rib having a side edge adapted to receive said saw support member thereagainst to guide the saw as the saw is moved along said rib edge; and manually operable means secured to the frame and operably coupled with said block means to move the block means toward said abutment to selectively increase the clamping force on the item clamped therebetween; said block means including a mount, means releasably securing the mount to the frame at any selected position longitudinally thereof, a block having a flat edge surface adapted to engage said item second edge, and means securing the block to the mount to permit limited lost motion between the block and the mount toward and away from the abutment; and said manually operable means including a cam rotatably secured to the mount and engagable with the block in position to engage the block and move the block flat surface toward the abutment to increase the clamping force on the item responsive to manual rotation of the cam.