Cutting guide

A cutting guide for use with a power unit having a powered cutting tool to cut strips of materials from a larger sheet, said cutting guide comprising:

• (a) a manually graspable base plate having an opening for receiving the cutting tool downwardly therethrough;
• (b) means for mounting said power unit on said base plate;
• (c) an elongate fence disposed below said base plate, said fence having a leading and a trailing end portion, and an upright work piece contacting guide face directed toward said base plate tool receiving opening;
• (d) carriage means moveable along the bottom surface of said base plate for securely supporting said fence in selective locations relative to said base plate tool receiving opening;
• and
• (e) strip support means cooperatively carried by said base plate and said carriage means for supporting the cut strip upwardly against the bottom surface of said base plate, said strip support means comprising:
• a generally L-shaped axle having one end portion supported by said base plate and the other end portion supported by said carriage means, said axle having a vertical leg extending downwardly from said base plate a location rearwardly of and aligned with the central axis of said base plate tool opening to intersect a horizontal leg, said horizontal leg extending from the lower end of said vertical leg along a line generally parallel to the bottom surface of said base and generally perpendicularly to said fence guide face to slidably engage with said carriage means, and
• support roller means rotatably mounted on said axle horizontal leg at a location adjacent said vertical leg.

In a cutting guide for use with a power unit having a powered cutting tool to cut strips of material from a larger sheet, the cutting guide including a manually graspable base plate having an opening for receiving the cutting tool downwardly therethrough and means for mounting the power unit on the base plate, the improvement comprising:

• upwardly biased strip support means partially carried by the base plate for supporting a cut strip of material in upward contact against the bottom surface of the base plate;
• an elongate fence positioned below the base plate, said fence having a leading and trailing end portion, and a work piece contacting guide face extending downwardly from the bottom surface of the base plate and being directed toward said tool receiving opening, said guide face serving to slide against the side of the strip of material to be cut that is disposed opposite to the side adjacent the cutting tool;
• and
• carriage means longitudinally slidable along the underside of the base plate toward and away from said tool receiving opening for securely supporting said fence in selective locations relative to said tool receiving opening, said carriage means including means cooperating with said base member to carry said strip support means while enabling the distance separating said fence and said tool receiving opening to be selectively varied.