[Ben Piecuch]

There are many ways to accomplish a reliable telescoping system. You can build both square and round "tube in tube" systems like teams 175 and 980, and a host of others. You can purchase off-the shelf drawer sliders and the like, similar to 111, 294, and 1071. We personally used the 8020, 1" linear bearing with much success. You can see examples of it on our website, along with teams 56, 103, 222, and many others.

I'm not all that familiar with the IGUS system, though I know that many teams use their products, again with much success. Tolerances are the key, as is maintaining the proper overlap between the two pieces. The more you extend one leg with respect to the other, the stronger the bearing needs to be, and the tighter the tolerances need to be. We tend to keep a 4:1 ratio of extended length to overlap.

If you need more detail or answers to specific issues, let us know.

Bengineer