a wear pad of a band saw guide exposed to wear from a moving band saw blade is produced in a powder metallurgical manner from a steel material having the following composition , in percent by weight : 0 . 01 - 2 c , 0 . 01 - 3 . 0 si , 0 . 01 - 10 . 0 mn , 16 - 33 cr , max . 5 ni , 0 . 01 - 5 . 0 , max . 9 co , max . 0 . 5 s , 1 . 6 - 9 . 8 n , 7 . 5 to 14 of , wherein the contents of n and of are balanced in relation to each other so that the contents of the elements are within a range i ″, f ″, g , h , i ″ in a coordinate system , where the content of n is the abscissa and the content of is the ordinate , and where the coordinates for the points ]) are ], ], ], and ], max 7 of any of ti , zr , and al ; and a balance essentially only iron and unavoidable impurities .