Friction Slides

What are Friction Drawer Slides?

Friction drawer slides, also referred to as friction guides, consist of a guide cassette that moves linearly on a fixed rail. Unlike traditional linear track systems, friction slides do not use ball bearings. Instead, they provide a versatile movement solution, using a self-lubricating carriage and rail to bring motion to your designs.

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Advantages of Friction Drawer Slides

There are many advantages of using friction drawer slides. Some of these are listed below:

  • Ultra-low wear
  • No lubrication required: maintenance free
  • Resistant to dirt and dust
  • Suitable for harsh environments
  • Vibration resistant and quiet operation
  • Corrosion-resistant and suitable for high-pressure washdown
  • The guides can be used in any orientation and are designed to absorb equal wear in both the Y and Z orientations
  • Two or more tracks can be butted together to create a longer track. Misaligned tracks will cause excessive wear on the guides

Common Uses

Thanks to their resilience against moisture and chemicals, typical applications for friction slides are automation and motion control.

Metrol’s Slides

Our Accuride friction drawer slides range includes non-adjust, manual adjust, and automatic adjust linear motion friction guide cassettes. Each is manufactured with corrosion-resistant aluminium, which can handle any task, even in the harshest environments.

Non-Adjust

The non-adjust cassette comes with no pre-load and moves freely without any pressure against it.

Manual Adjust

The manual adjust cassette allows you to adjust the pre-load with three screws, giving you the desired tension — it can be loosened or tightened depending on your application.

Auto-Adjust

The auto-adjust cassette comes with three pins which you insert into the end of the carriage then press on the springs to release the friction element. You can then feed it into the track and remove the pins to adjust the pre-load — the pre-load is set at 4.5 newtons.

Order Online Today

If you need help choosing a particular friction drawer slide or wish to speak to us about any of our Accuride drawer slide options, please call us on 01604 499332, and we can help you select the fitting to suit your application.

Friction slides are available to order online at Metrol, providing they are in stock at the time of order. In addition, all our linear slides can be shipped to the UK or internationally. If you have any further questions about our slides range or any other products, please do not hesitate to get in touch. You can view more technical information regarding friction slides in the Accuride catalogue download.