Linear Guideways
P/H/SP Precision Grades | 15–65mm Rails | Ball & Roller Types
High-rigidity linear motion guides engineered for CNC machine tools, industrial automation, and precision positioning systems. Interchangeable with HIWIN, THK, NSK, and IKO standards.
What Is a Linear Guideway?
A linear guideway is a precision rolling-element bearing system that provides smooth, low-friction linear motion along a profiled rail. It consists of a rail (guide) and a carriage (block) with recirculating balls or rollers, enabling high-load capacity, rigidity, and positioning accuracy in machine tool axes.
Luoyang Songju manufactures linear guideways in standard and custom configurations, with precision grades ranging from general-purpose H to high-precision P and ultra-precision SP. Our guideways are fully interchangeable with major international brands, offering a cost-effective alternative without compromising on quality.
High Load Capacity
4-way equal load rating design
Interchangeable
Compatible with HIWIN, THK, NSK
Long Service Life
Precision-ground raceways, optimized seals
ISO 9001:2015
Certified quality management
Linear Guideway Models
Nine distinct product series covering ball-type, roller-type, miniature, wide, silent, and specialized configurations for every linear motion application
LGS Series Ball Linear Guideway
Standard ball-type linear guideway with 4-row Gothic arch contact. Most versatile series for general CNC and automation applications. Available in sizes 15–65mm with H, P, and SP precision grades.
- Sizes: 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 45, 55, 65mm
- Grades: H, P, SP
- Preload: Z0, ZA, ZB
LGR Series Roller Linear Guideway
Cylindrical roller design for ultra-high load capacity and rigidity. 2–3x the load rating of equivalent ball-type guides. Ideal for heavy machining centers, large gantry machines, and high-rigidity applications.
- Sizes: 25, 30, 35, 45, 55, 65mm
- Grades: P, SP
- Dynamic load: up to 195 kN
LG Series Ball Linear Guideway
Compact ball-type linear guideway with optimized cross-section for space-constrained applications. Lower profile than LGS series while maintaining excellent precision and load capacity.
- Sizes: 15, 20, 25, 30, 35mm
- Grades: H, P
- Compact cross-section design
LSQ Series Silent Ball Linear Guideway
Low-noise ball linear guideway featuring optimized ball recirculation path and synthetic resin end caps. Ideal for medical equipment, semiconductor manufacturing, and cleanroom environments where quiet operation is critical.
- Noise reduction: up to 6 dB(A)
- Sizes: 15, 20, 25, 30mm
- Grades: P, SP
CS Crossed Roller Linear Guideway
Non-recirculating crossed roller design for the highest stiffness and accuracy. Zero cage creep with alternating orthogonal roller arrangement. Ideal for metrology stages, optical alignment, and ultra-precision positioning.
- Sizes: Custom per application
- Running parallelism: <2 um
- Limited stroke applications
LGSW Wide-Type Rolling Linear Guideway
Wide-rail ball linear guideway with extended mounting surface for higher moment load capacity. Single rail can replace dual-rail setups in certain applications, reducing alignment complexity and cost.
- Sizes: 20, 25, 30, 35mm
- Grades: H, P
- High moment load capacity
Ball V-Type Linear Guideway
V-groove raceway design with 2-point ball contact for applications requiring low friction and smooth motion. Excellent for light-load precision positioning, inspection equipment, and laboratory automation.
- Sizes: 7, 9, 12, 15mm
- Low friction coefficient
- Lightweight and compact
Cross Roller Linear Guideway
Compact crossed roller design with alternating orthogonal cylindrical rollers. Eliminates cage creep by design. Superior straightness accuracy for precision stages, optical benches, and coordinate measuring machines.
- Sizes: Custom / modular
- Friction coefficient: 0.001 max
- Ideal for short-stroke precision
Rolling Linear Guideway Self-lubricator
Integrated self-lubrication system with high-density oil-impregnated polymer block. Extends maintenance intervals significantly and ensures consistent lubrication film on raceways. Compatible with LGS and LGR series.
- Maintenance interval: extended 5x+
- Compatible with all LGS / LGR blocks
- Cleanroom-compatible oil options
Linear Guideway Types
Understanding the different linear guideway configurations to select the optimal solution for your application
Ball-Bearing Guideways
The most common type, using recirculating steel balls between the rail and carriage. Four-point Gothic arch contact provides equal load capacity in all directions. Excellent for general-purpose CNC and automation applications. Low to moderate preload options available.
Roller Guideways
Use cylindrical rollers instead of balls, achieving 2-3x higher load capacity and rigidity. Line contact between roller and raceway distributes load over a larger area. Preferred for heavy-duty machining centers, large gantry mills, and high-rigidity applications.
Miniature Guideways
Compact linear guides with rail widths as small as 7mm. Designed for space-constrained applications including semiconductor equipment, medical devices, laboratory automation, and small precision stages. Stainless steel options available for corrosion resistance.
Sliding Guideways
Plain bearing linear guides using low-friction polymer or PTFE sliding elements instead of rolling elements. Zero stick-slip, maintenance-free operation, and excellent damping characteristics. Suitable for cleanroom and vacuum environments.
Specialized Guideways
Application-specific configurations including wide-rail (LGSW) for single-rail applications, silent (LSQ) for low-noise environments, crossed roller for ultra-precision, and self-lubricating types for extended maintenance intervals in hard-to-reach installations.
Corrosion-Resistant Options
Stainless steel rails and carriages with specialized surface treatments (black chrome, electroless nickel plating) for harsh environments. Available across ball-type and miniature series for food processing, chemical, marine, and outdoor applications.
Why Choose Our Linear Guideways
Engineered for performance, manufactured to international standards
Low Friction
Rolling element design achieves a friction coefficient as low as 0.002-0.004, significantly lower than traditional sliding guides (0.1-0.2). This translates to reduced motor power requirements, less heat generation, and smoother motion at both high and low speeds.
High Rigidity
Four-row Gothic arch contact (ball type) and cylindrical roller line contact (roller type) provide exceptional rigidity in all four loading directions. Preload options (Z0, ZA, ZB) allow stiffness tuning for specific application requirements.
Positioning Accuracy
Precision-ground raceways achieve running parallelism within 2-10 um depending on grade. SP-grade guideways deliver sub-micron repeatability for the most demanding applications. Minimal elastic deformation under load ensures consistent positioning.
Long Service Life
Optimized ball recirculation path and high-quality end seals minimize wear and contamination ingress. Properly lubricated guideways routinely achieve 20,000+ operating hours. Self-lubricator option extends maintenance intervals up to 5x.
Full Interchangeability
Rails and carriages are manufactured to tight dimensional tolerances, allowing individual components to be replaced without re-machining mounting surfaces. Fully interchangeable with equivalent HIWIN HG/EG, THK HSR/SHS, and NSK LA/LE series.
Smooth Motion
Precision-machined ball retainer chains and optimized recirculation geometry ensure near-zero pulsation during motion. This is critical for surface finish quality in grinding and milling applications where any vibration translates directly to the workpiece.
Industries & Use Cases
Linear guideways are fundamental components across a wide spectrum of precision machinery and automation systems
CNC Machine Tools
Primary application for linear guideways. Used on X, Y, Z axes of vertical machining centers, horizontal machining centers, turning centers with live tooling, and 5-axis machines. Requires H to SP grade depending on required accuracy.
Industrial Robotics
Linear axes for Cartesian robots, gantry robots, SCARA arms, and pick-and-place systems. Long-travel configurations with joined rails enable strokes exceeding 10 meters for large automation cells and warehouse logistics.
Semiconductor Manufacturing
Wafer handling stages, die bonders, wire bonders, inspection systems. Requires SP-grade accuracy, low particle generation, and cleanroom-compatible materials. Stainless steel and low-outgassing lubrication options available.
Medical Equipment
CT scanner patient tables, MRI positioning stages, surgical robots, diagnostic imaging gantries. LSQ silent series preferred for patient comfort. Corrosion-resistant options for sterilization-compatible equipment.
3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing
Linear motion axes for FDM, SLA, SLS, and metal powder bed fusion printers. Smooth motion at low speeds is critical for layer consistency. Compact LG series and miniature guides fit space-constrained printer frames.
Metrology & Inspection
Coordinate measuring machines (CMM), optical comparators, vision measurement systems, surface profilometers. Crossed roller and SP-grade ball guideways deliver the sub-micron straightness and repeatability these instruments demand.
Custom Linear Guideway Manufacturing
Beyond our standard series, we offer comprehensive OEM and custom manufacturing services for linear guideways tailored to your exact specifications. Our engineering team works directly with your design to optimize guideway selection, mounting geometry, preload, and lubrication.
Custom Rail Lengths
Single-piece rails up to 4,000mm, joined rails for unlimited stroke lengths
Special Surface Treatments
Black chrome, electroless nickel, QPQ nitriding for corrosion and wear resistance
Custom Carriage Configurations
Flanged, square, or extended carriages with custom mounting hole patterns
Private Label / Branding
Laser-etched part numbers, custom packaging, and your brand on the product
Application-Specific Lubrication
Food-grade, vacuum-compatible, high-temperature, or low-outgassing grease options
Standard Customization Options
Indicative Price Ranges
Prices vary by size, precision grade, preload class, and quantity. Contact us for a detailed quotation tailored to your specifications.
Standard Ball Type
LGS / LG series. Rail + 1 carriage. H grade. For general CNC and automation applications.
High-Load Roller Type
LGR series. Rail + 1 carriage. P grade. For heavy-duty machining and high-rigidity requirements.
Pricing is indicative FOB China. Volume discounts available for orders of 100+ meters. Custom configurations priced separately.
Request Detailed QuotationFrequently Asked Questions
Common technical questions about linear guideway selection and usage
Preload selection depends on your rigidity and accuracy requirements:
- Z0 (Zero / Light Preload) -- General automation, material handling, low-speed applications. Lowest friction, highest travel life.
- ZA (Medium Preload) -- General CNC machine tools, moderate cutting loads. Good balance of rigidity and life. This is the most common selection.
- ZB (Heavy Preload) -- High-rigidity applications, heavy cutting, cantilevered loads, and where minimal elastic deformation is critical. Higher friction reduces life slightly.
For most CNC machining center applications, we recommend ZA preload. Contact our engineering team for application-specific guidance.
Linear guideways require grease or oil lubrication on the ball/roller recirculation path. Recommendations:
- Grease lubrication -- Most common. Use lithium soap-based grease NLGI No. 1 or 2. Re-lubrication interval: every 100 km of travel or 3-6 months, whichever comes first.
- Oil lubrication -- For high-speed applications (>60 m/min). ISO VG 32-68 oil. Typically via central lubrication system or oil-air mist.
- Self-lubricator option -- Our oil-impregnated polymer block extends re-lubrication intervals up to 5x. Ideal for hard-to-access installations.
Always ensure end seals and side seals are intact. Contamination is the number one cause of premature guideway failure.
Yes, rails can be butt-joined end-to-end to achieve virtually unlimited stroke lengths. Key considerations:
- Max single-piece length -- 4,000mm for standard production. Longer single pieces available on request.
- Butt-joined rails -- We supply matched sets with ground ends and matched marking. The joint gap is controlled to within 0.02mm and the step at the joint is ground flush.
- Staggered joints -- For dual-rail systems, we recommend staggering rail joints so they do not align across rails, minimizing the effect on carriage motion.
- Installation note -- Use the reference edge for alignment. Joined rails are marked with sequential numbers and a common reference side.
We have supplied joined rail systems for gantry machines with strokes exceeding 20 meters.
Cage creep is a phenomenon where the roller cage (retainer) gradually drifts from its intended position during reciprocating motion in non-recirculating linear guides like crossed roller types.
Causes and solutions:
- Root cause -- Slight asymmetry in acceleration/deceleration, inconsistent lubrication, or off-center loading causes the cage to drift over many cycles.
- Our solution -- Luoyang Songju CS series crossed roller guideways use an anti-creep mechanism with a gear-and-rack synchronization system between the cage and the rail, mechanically preventing drift.
- Alternative approach -- External cage guides or split-cage designs with spring preload can also mitigate creep in certain configurations.
- Application note -- Cage creep is not an issue in recirculating ball or roller type guideways (LGS, LGR series) because the rolling elements are continuously recirculated.
For applications requiring crossed roller guides with long stroke or high cycle rates, specify the anti-creep mechanism at time of order.
Need a Custom Linear Guideway Solution?
Our engineering team is ready to help you select the right series, size, precision grade, and accessories for your application. 24-hour guaranteed response.