Linear Bearing Slides
Capable of holding the heaviest of objects, our Linear Slide Rails are available in different styles and sizes capable of carrying up to 750 lbs weight capacity per carriage or add more to double your weight carrying capabilities. Each rail and carriage are made from hardened steel with a hidden rotating style bearing system.
What's more impressive is our Linear Slide Rails lengths come in sizes up to 84" (inch) long, in 10" (inch) increments. You can simply add more units to build a custom length rail system.
Capable of holding the heaviest of jobs and when coupled with a Linear Actuator, you have yourself a complete Automated trouble-free system.
How do they vary
Available in different sizes of Linear Slide rails:
- Carriage-style Linear Slide Rails are capable of carrying up to 750lbs while maintaining a very smooth operation and great versatility. Available in different lengths and can be cut to any length. Add extra carriages for larger distribution of weights and double the weight capacity for each carriage added.
- Drawer Slide Rails are heavy-duty slide rails, they have a long stoke and mainly used for heavy-duty drawers. They are great for RV campers with large slide-out drawers that require long strokes and large weight capacity. Our Extra Heavy Duty Drawer Slides can take up to 500lbs per pair, and extend up to 50".
How do you adjust their friction?
In this tutorial, we show you how to adjust the central bearing on Firgelli Automation's heavy-duty slide rails(FA-SGR-35) and our mini linear slide rail (FA-SGR-15N). Adjusting the tension of your linear slide rails may be an important detail that needs to be carefully controlled. We go into detail on how to achieve this.
The Advantages
Linear Slide Rail's main advantage would be that they are very durable because they are made with the highest quality aluminum. They also have very little friction between the block and the rail with the ball bearings which increases the accuracy of the block. This is especially important when used in projects such as 3D printing.
Some Linear Slide Rails are equipped with a lubrication mechanism within the block. This will overall decrease the amount of maintenance required on the linear slide rail. The only requirement needed for maintenance is to refill its lubrication when it's running low, this will increase the lifetime of the block.
On our Linear Slide Rails, you can also adjust the tension between the rail and the block, making our rails compatible with just about any project requiring linear slide rails. Compared to other Slides, Linear Bearing Slides are also known to be able to handle higher loads without affecting their motion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Linear Rails are used when the task requires great precision and very little friction in the movement of an object. This is why they are very popular when manufacturing, distributing, or packing products, and are widely used across all industrial sectors. The only real complexity lies in the different names used for Linear Rails: linear guide rails, linear guides, linear guideways, linear slides, and linear guidance systems.
No matter what you call it, a Linear Rail efficiently moves loads along a determined horizontal or vertical path with a minimum of friction or resistance. Linear Rails are usually made from high-strength, hardened, and galvanized Steel so they resist corrosion.
As a rule, Linear Rails are the most suitable for high loads, also being designed to deliver a very precise linear motion. Rail guides come in every size from miniature Linear Rails designed for moving tiny components in limited spaces right up to mammoth examples for moving components that could weigh more than a tonne.
Linear Bearings slide rails move on a Linear Axis in a straight line. Because they are a bearing it allows you to move a significant amount of weight in a linear motion with great ease. The Linear Bearing takes all the weight without restricting the linear motion of the object, hence the name.
Linear Bearing slide rails provide accurate, stable, and smooth linear guidance under a wide range of speeds, loads, conditions, and space requirements. Linear Bearings are used in applications that require linear motion of heavyweights in a repeatable motion.
We offer different style Linear Bearings to suit most applications, from the mini to the larger heavy-duty Linear Bearing for heavyweights.
In many linear actuator applications, you may need additional supports to help move your desired object or to protect your linear actuator from uneven loads. Generally, you’ll have two choices of supports you have to pick from; Linear Guides and Drawer Slides. But what is the difference? Why choose one over the other and how do you know which one is best for your application?
Linear Sliding Rails
Linear Bearing Slide Rails are support mechanisms that are used to carry heavy loads and ensure straight and level linear motion. Linear guides will usually consist of two components; the sliding carriage and the rail. The sliding carriage is the element that moves along the rail and supports the attached load.
The two most common styles of linear guides are the sliding contact guides and roller bearing guides. Linear guides are designed to allow you to move a significant amount of weight along with a single axis with great ease and their load carrying capability allows linear motion without restriction. If you want to learn more, check out our Linear Bearing 101 blog
Drawer Slides
drawer slide is a mechanism that can carry an object and allows for telescopic motion in one axis. Drawer slides generally work by having one drawer member that slides over a cabinet member, which allows the entire mechanism to extend or retract. Generally, you will use a pair of drawer slides in any application and will most likely encounter two main types: Roller Slides and Ball-Bearing Slides, although ball-bearing drawer slides do provide a larger carry load capacity and longer extensions
If you want to learn more about Drawer Slides, you can check out our drawer Slides 101 blog to learn more. Drawer slides are commonly found in a wide range of household or office applications like desk drawers, kitchen cabinets, and pull-out cutting boards but can be used in a wide range of applications that require linear extension and retraction.
Which one should I choose?
Your choice between whether to use a drawer slide or linear guide is almost completely dependent on your application. The design differences described above make it clear that certain applications are better suited for linear guides, while others are more appropriate for drawer slides.
If your application is similar to a common cabinet application or if you require telescopic motion, then drawer slides may be the best option for your application. If you require support to stabilize an actuating component and protect it from uneven loads and torques, then linear guides are a good option for you. There are also many instances where both linear guides and drawer slides may be used and, in this case, you must prioritize the differences between these supports to decide which one is for you.
Top Blog Posts on Linear Bearing Slide Rails
In many Linear Actuator applications, you may need additional supports to help move your desired object or to protect your linear actuator from uneven loads....
Linear Guides or linear rail slides are support devices that are used to help carry loads and ensure straight and level linear motion. Linear guides will...
In this Tutorial, we show you how to adjust the central bearing on Firgelli Automations heavy duty (FA-SGR-35) and mini linear track rail (FA-SGR-15N). Adjusting...
Drawer slides can be as easy or as hard as you allow them, and it all depends on what type of slide you choose. In...