GSF Launching in the US

“A Drawer Slide is not just a Drawer Slide”

GSF (www.gsfslides.com), the UK's leading supplier of purpose-engineered high strength drawer slides, is launching its range of cold-drawn steel drawer slides in
the US market at the FDIC show in Indianapolis (April 7th- 12th).

These slides are purpose-engineered to be resistant to damage caused over time from vehicle vibration and movement, and models are available that will carry a phenomenal 1,300 lbs at 78” 100% extension. Jon Lye, GSF's founder and Managing Director told us:

“Overloading of drawer slides is a common problem.
If you are buying a fire truck to last you 10 or 20 years, who knows what your stowage needs are going to be a few years down the line.

Absolute strength is one thing, but different slides have different capabilities to withstand torsion and lateral forces, as well as the ability to withstand the dynamic forces imposed when a fire truck corners and brakes or drives over a bumpy road. The firemen may not notice it the first time they take a vehicle on the road, but eventually a wrongly-specified slide will fail.”

Firefighters all around the world are renowned for demanding the very best from their equipment. They know better than anyone that people's lives depend on their essential gear performing flawlessly every time, from simple straps and buckles to the fire trucks that have to provide quick and easy access to vital life-saving tools. The drawer slide or tip down-drawer is usually taken for granted, however if it fails to open or close at a fire scene then lives will be put at risk. 

It seems to matter whether a slide is produced from cold-rolled steel sheet or cold-drawn steel bar. The cold-drawing process has a more permanent re-forming effect on the crystalline structure of the steel, resulting in a better “shape memory”. This is why increasingly ball bearing slides constructed from cold-drawn steel bar are the specification of choice for slides used on vehicle based applications. Jon continued:

“We are very excited to be launching our products at the FDIC show.  There is a lot of engineering technology that goes into solving certain linear motion problems. What we are setting out to do with these products, including our new ultra-high precision roller bearing slides, is to demonstrate that a drawer slide is not just a drawer slide. We always love a challenge!”