Self-Lubricating L-Gibs Oil-Free Heel Groove (Metric)

This self-lubricating heel groove is used in injection mold tooling where a guide rail/slide plate must maintain stable linear motion without routine oil maintenance. The single-side heel groove supports consistent positioning, helping reduce stick-slip during repeated open/close cycles.

• Automotive connector and terminal molds: Suitable for long production runs where maintenance intervals are tight; the oil-free design supports reliable movement even in environments where lubricants can attract debris.
• Appliance and consumer product molds: Works well for guide rail systems that experience frequent start-stop cycles; the copper alloy construction helps lower friction and wear for smoother heel contact.
• Industrial housings and multi-slide tooling: The metric rail compatibility and groove geometry are intended for stable guidance in undercut/plate applications requiring predictable motion along the rails.

Select this variant when you need a non-oil heel groove that still provides tight, repeatable motion characteristics across the specified rail width and lengths.

The heel groove is provided with a copper alloy construction, chosen for low friction and improved wear behavior at the sliding interface. In oil-free guidance applications, copper alloys can help maintain stable contact conditions, reducing metal-to-metal abrasion compared with harder, non-lubricated pairs.

• Wear vs. toughness trade-off: Copper alloy components generally prioritize sliding performance and wear resistance; however, they are not intended to match the impact toughness of fully hardened tool steels.
• Heat treatment state: The provided specifications do not list a specific heat treatment (e.g., quenched & tempered, nitriding) or target hardness in HRC. For final qualification, verify supplier material processing and hardness at incoming inspection.
• Selection note (if compared): Compared with tool steels, copper alloy guide elements typically reduce friction more effectively in oil-free service, while tool steels are preferred when maximum structural stiffness is the dominant requirement.

To select the correct rail/groove dimensions, match the rail width W and rail length L to your mold’s guide rail design. This metric heel groove is specified for W = 32 mm or 50 mm and L = 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, or 350 mm.

• Width matching: Choose W that matches the corresponding guide rail width in your undercuts/guide-rails-slide-plates stack-up.
• Length matching: Select L based on the required travel path and the overall rail span in the moving platen or slide plate.
• Mounting holes: Confirm the mounting hole quantity (2, 3, 4, or 5) and hole size designation (M or S) to align with your plate interface.
• Fit/tolerance considerations: Because no tolerance values are provided, validate fit by checking hole diameter/fastener selection and rail seating dimensions during trial assembly. Maintain consistent contact surfaces to avoid play at the heel groove.

If your design is fixed, select the closest W/L and hole pattern; if modular, you may standardize on one hole quantity and vary length to suit different cavities.