Abstract: A shaft clutch mechanism, and method and apparatus for its production are disclosed. The shaft clutch mechanism has an upper body folded into a polygonal cross section with a plurality of fingers, each finger attached to and extending from a flat section of the upper body. The shaft clutch mechanism is pressed on to one end of an inner nested element of a telescoping body and is placed inside an outer element where the fingers are slightly deformed, providing slight friction sufficient to hold the inner element in place, but still allowing it to slide relative to the outer element. The method and apparatus for producing the shaft clutch mechanism use a two stage press and a bending device to take a continuous strip of material to form blanks which then are bent to form the shaft clutch mechanism that is pressed on to the inner element of the telescoping body.