David Malawey

🧰 This is tool box 6. 🧰 Five boxes are posted on OpenLab “tour” section and today I’ll publish this one.

With these photos published online, viewers can see a video and ask “what type of tool did he use to deburr that cut?” or “what was that handy thread measuring thing?” and find the answers all in these photos. I want all my processes to be repeatable, so the open source hardware has no gaps.

In the near future, we could ask Gemini “do I have all the tools I need to replace my barbecue smoker heating element?” and the AI can verify if I need to order something. I bet there are loads of opportunities we haven’t thought of. By the way, you’re a young person weighing a purchase: if the tool is not in openLab you probably don’t need it. That is, to reproduce all the types of projects I perform.

Lastly, feedback: if you know tips I’ve not implemented, or you see improvement opportunities, I’d love to learn from you. This lab is for continuous improvement (kaizen) and gathering best practices from the audience, which I am so grateful for! 😊 Thanks everyone 🫡

EDIT: It’s LIVE now on qr.net/openlabproject 🧑‍💻

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1 day ago (edited) | [YT] | 73

David Malawey

Belated Post of my learning in Mexico, Feb 2026: if you care about these things, subscribe to my channel to keep improving.

Mexico DIY: the bad news is they’re far ahead of us in technical skills. I grew up in the Midwestern USA and 1 of every 3 homes on the block had a technician. We built things and repaired things and that was an “American” trait in my mind. Nowadays, I can’t find talent to hire for robotics building and my local home depot & lowes has 0 out of 50 workers who can give advice on tools and supplies. Along with outsourcing manufacturing, our leaders ripped all the hands/on talent out of the USA for 2 generations. It breaks my heart because it makes my work more lonely and understimulated financially. The good news: mexico has lots of inches and LBS and ounces so Im finding compatible materials for global open source development. Photo 1 shows my trip to cancun’s home depot.

Mexico Robotics: This is the 3rd robot i found in international airports after korea and … amsterdam? This robot mops the floor and offers a slap jn the face if youre an american robotics developer who tried to start businesses in the USA. It shows a sensible and easy task for a robit that we simply dont support in the USA because founders in the hardware space cant compete with software founders in the work of tricking investors and making false promises. While the USA spirals into the stupidity of an all-software economy, mexico is steadily making better lives with real hardware like this.

Mexico airlines: just kidding I flew delta. I opened my life preserver capsule to find my preserver is 5 years expired. On two different flights. Keep in mind Delta is the top-tier airline in the USA.

Ok now i’m depressed so your encouragement is welcome. Have a good day.

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5 days ago | [YT] | 81

David Malawey

Well I can’t make it worse! Here’s an ill-advised repair I’m going to test out. In 2027 you can see the results. ChatGPT says don’t do this - what would you do with a 60-minute budget?

In 2025 my toyota repair certificate expired for the Pear White paint with a rare factory shortcoming and a poor paint life with likelihood of peeling.

Stacked with intermittent hail damage, my 4runner’s peeling paint spots need to be addressed lest it degrades into rust spots. With spot tests of sanding, I found this flaking paint to be hard as rocks, and I don’t have time for the perfect repair: sanding down to metal and starting over. So it’s a light sanding, removal of dust, and a coat of hard Rustoleum enamel to protect the surface and smooth it out.

With these fine cracks, the panel holds water and steams it in the sun for rapid degradation. 6 months back, i tested a spot with enamel, and it holds up. Today, i coated a large section with a lot more enamel. If it looks alright in March, I’ll finish this economy-repair and in 2027 report how it looks over time.

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1 week ago | [YT] | 103

David Malawey

Today I learned 🔬HOW TO TEST 🔬the ultrasonic cleaner! In 2025 I decided Openlab may need an ultrasonic cleaner - it’s many uses for parts washing and conditioning sold me over the years. But online, the methods and claims are fuzzy, lacking concrete engineering data and instruction.

In 2025 I began to examine this tool and how to use it. In what ways does ultrasonic actuation deliver best results? what can we do with ultrasonic actuation that we can’t do with other tools? With mixed results, I couldn’t even be sure if it was doing anything at all. Sometimes it helps clean parts. Often times it seems to do nothing at all.

Now we have a test that makes it worthwhile to proceed with experimentation! Aluminum foil is a specimen that shows CLEAR measurable results. The foil has severe pitting and deformation after just 60 seconds and 50 watts from the machine. Thanks to Gemini for (collecting) the idea and a youtuber in Germany with a sample video, I’m sure we can find good uses for this. 🤓

Then, we describe how to use Ultrasonic cleaning with our other maker tools to systematically benefit from the technology .🦸‍♂️. See in the image how the aluminum foil responds to the semiwave treatment for just 60 seconds.

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1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 111

David Malawey

I learned about the board of Regents! Today I met the department head at the largest university department in Texas. I asked if we, the largest department at the biggest school, could have a hand washing station in our building. I, a male staff member, can only wash hands in the bathroom, with cold water, where other men are performing bowel movements just 1 meter away. In summary, we cannot have a solution this year.

In approximately 2 years, we may get a new building. But this is not in the power of my department head, it’s a decision of the Board of Regents. They must be very powerful people. The board of Regents decides if I can wash my hands at lunch time, in two years. As an Engineer, this doesn’t seem logical to me. The Regents never even visited here before. But so far, they decided that 10,000 students and staff will not be allowed hot running water to wash hands, and a place to eat their lunch. Why did they decide that?

With the full power of my engineering analysis, I think something is not quite right about all of this. What do you think?

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1 month ago | [YT] | 100

David Malawey

Time to organize long cables, rope, and webbings! A free & open printed spool, using 3/4 PVC. Cut the length of the PVC for custom size. Press fit the disc. Friction weld the driver adapter. 60mm spools fit in the drawer. 80mm spools slide onto EMT 1/2in. This is spool_v1 on my grabCAD.

There’s more to come. does anyone want to help make an enclosure for sanding ribbon? A convenient built-in snipper & dispenser? A spool locker that prevents unspooling?

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1 month ago | [YT] | 208

David Malawey

Here’s a method to interlock a gear or pulley with a shaft. I like this better than a set screw. The shear load is concentrated on the steel ball and spread out on the plastic. I’m using a 3/8in ball (9.53mm) and 8.0mm hole. The part is called locker.sldprt. Easy to model! this one is parametric and I’ll post on grabCAD soon! #printegrate

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2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 348

David Malawey

Can we synergize? Dear Friends, you might enjoy ‪@MechAniVerse‬, because this content creator is demonstrating practical applications of mechanical devices. I have two mechanical engineering degrees and I still learn more by gazing at the mechanisms in motion on this channel. These devices are all around us but it's special when visual noise and branding is stripped away and we see pure mechanisms. Maybe you can help me find and connect with a developer like this.

As a viewer, look out for these:
► visualizations backed by real models
► models backed by free, accessible CAD
► CAD backed by digital manufacturing (3d printing)
► printed parts backed by tested designs
► design tests backed by real use cases
► use cases backed by real needs

If you know one of these animators, feel free to introduce me! in 2026 we could complete the full circle!

2 months ago | [YT] | 69

David Malawey

Hi everyone! My collaborators in Nigeria have a youtube channel set up and two new videos. Who works in the lab? Why are they engineering a filament extruder? What's the connection to robotics? These questions are answered in their content. For me, this lab is where I have deep alignment - [open source design, prioritizing communication, engineering based on first principals, using mobile robots for education, and learning-while-teaching for multidisciplinary engineering education] Behind the scenes, I worked with a few others for over 3 years to make this happen.

How you can help: ask your real engineering questions in their content, offer your precious curiosity. I want Miss Okeme Perfect to connect with our planet and your questions can steer their next videos.

Check it out ► https://youtu.be/D8JbOxglB9U

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2 months ago | [YT] | 101

David Malawey

Public Service Announcement: Prevent fires with your 3D printer: in 2018 we lost a mechanical engineering prototyping lab. I asked many about the root cause, and never heard an answer. So for the following years I studied my printer, the same model. Creator Pro is a GREAT printer by Flashforge. I love it. But it’s likely if you run for years your heater connector may degrade. This connector is a minimal design for the current that it carries. Let’s upgrade our connectors on these heaters. Today my heater lost power on this 8 year old machine. The contact may corrode and become more hot, degrading further, and raising the resistance. That causes more heat. In the 2018 case, fire took place in an unattended overnight print. Our university leaders should have studied and produce a lesson-learned memo. Instead, we got a mystery. I’m here to set an example and publish my findings. Fearless on Every Front. Dear Aggies, demand better from your school.

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3 months ago | [YT] | 229