80/20 Channel

[Donut]

Originally Posted by ksafin

So... 80/20 linear slides..?
http://www.8020.net/Solution-8.asp

AKA yes they have tons of linear slide components for sale.
They're just VERY expensive.

We built an extending elevator in 2005 that used the linear slides and the roller guides, they work really well as long as you space them far enough apart (we sometimes drove our rollers too close together and caused the elevator to bind). By far our highest scoring robot and we used some of them again in 2007 with success. If I remember correctly we just got the bearing pads and mounted them ourselves, not the full assemblies or bearing profiles, which saves some on cost.

Bosch also has some linear elements for use with their extrusion that is similar to 80/20: http://www13.boschrexroth-us.com/Fra...aspx?Group=112. I think the profiles are different enough that the sliders aren't interchangeable with 80/20 but don't take my word on it. It looks like they make linear bushings like 1403 used as well.

Igus makes nice linear slide elements, my senior design project used one of their slides on it. They're a long time sponsor of FIRST (how I found about them), most teams probably know them for including energy chain for cable routing in the kit every year but they actually do a lot with plastic bearings and even included a few linear parts in FIRST Choice this year. They're out of stock in FIRST Choice now but you can get a 1 meter guide rail and a sliding carriage for it for about $100.