BLADE GUIDE WITH REPLACEABLE SURFACES

1 . A blade guide suitable for use as an accessory for a cutting machine of a type having an elongated saw blade in the form of a band held in tension, the blade having two sides and teeth formed along an edge; the band being carried across a cutting volume by a motor driving at least one of at least two support pulleys; wherein the blade guide consists of a shaft mounted on a frame of the cutting machine in order to support a head in a fixed position relative to the blade of the cutting machine; the head is configured so as to form a secure yet reversible interlocking connection with each of two replaceable guide shoes disposed one on each side of the blade; each shoe presenting a selected rubbing surface close to an adjacent side of the blade and thereby when in use limiting sideways deflection of the blade within the volume by contact between a side of the blade and an adjacent rubbing surface; wherein each replaceable guide shoe may be reversibly mounted on to the head in one of a plurality of orientations thereby providing a plurality of alternative rubbing surfaces.

2 . The blade guide as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each replaceable guide shoe has a symmetrical four-sided profile in order to provide four rubbing surfaces about the periphery of the shoe; any one of which surfaces is selected by reversibly attaching the replaceable guide shoe on to the head in a selected one of four orientations.

3 . The blade guide as claimed in claim 2 , wherein each guide shoe has a symmetrical structure about three axes: top to bottom, left to right, and front surface to back surface.

4 . The blade guide as claimed in claim 3 , wherein each guide shoe has a construction including:

a. a four-sided peripheral bar configured as a parallelogram shaped profile wherein each one of the four outer sides comprises one separate rubbing surface along an edge of one peripheral bar

b. within a space defined by the parallelogram shaped peripheral bar, a set of four resilient clips capable when in use of engaging with complementary cavities within a supporting shape upon the head is located;

c. the set of resilient clips being capable, when in use, of allowing each guide shoe to be detached from the head by the operator and rotated or replaced.

5 . The blade guide as claimed in claim 4 , wherein both of the replaceable guide shoes are identical.

6 . The blade guide as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the head includes a mirror-image pair of a set of two nested parallelogram shapes raised outward from the substance of the head; each set being configured in order to fit inside and behind the head and serve, when in use, as a connector for reversibly holding one shoe in place.

7 . The blade guide as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each of the two sets of two nested parallelograms configured upon the head includes an outer restraining group of surfaces having an outline in the form of a parallelogram and disposed in order to make contact with all inner side surfaces of the four-sided profile on one side of one shoe, and includes an inner interlocking group of mating surfaces in the form of a second parallelogram including complementary socket areas capable when in use of making a reversible locking contact with corresponding inner detailed and resiliently mounted protrusions upon strips of a web within the interior of the shoe.

8 . The blade guide as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the shoe is molded in a thermoplastics selected from a range including glass-filled polyoxymethylene (POM) commonly known as acetal.

9 . The blade guide as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the shoe is molded with a ceramic button surface incorporated within the face of each wearable surface.