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 day ago | [YT] | 168

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 weeks 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!

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 62

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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1 month 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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1 month ago | [YT] | 229

David Malawey

Have you ever gathered useful information from a scientific journal article or engineering journal publication to make a design?

2 months ago | [YT] | 18

David Malawey

SCUTTLE Lab at FUTO: Dr. Nzebuka sent me these photos and the progress for the extruder build is actually fantastic, over the last few months. Imagine being a professor, while leading a machine design, while budgeting parts to fabricate, while coordinating internationally for the lab, ordering designs from china... photography tends to be the last priority. We have 4 faculty involved here but in the summer we lost Dr. Nzebuka's best student designer. Thanks to yall who contributed the $555 we raised on GoFundMe!

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2 months ago | [YT] | 199

David Malawey

I finally discovered the purpose of "Youtube Community" It's MODERATORS. We can give access to moderators who can post on this channel and distribute value! 1) cross-link free designs with questions 2) connect OpenLab literature to the videos, 3) introduce more powerful youtubers, 4) We can highlight smart comments from videos, perform more Q&A, understand audience with polls.. many brilliant ideas, scattered across content. Can we leverage this option? let me know! I enjoy making posts but my bandwidth is limited. The ideas being exchanged here already are worth expanding - I'm open to your comments about how to leverage this. Should we elect a moderator? Other thoughts?

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2 months ago | [YT] | 200

David Malawey

this is my go-about vice. it’s very similar to a machine shop vice but this one can go anywhere you want 😆. today it helped 3 ways: first, let me put the cutting debris on patio, for easy sweep. 2nd, the rubber jaw pads put an even clamp force: avoiding strain of the plastic. 3rd, seat the round tube in the groove in the floor, so I can position the tube exactly in the middle. What’s your solution for clamping a round thing like this?

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2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 65

David Malawey

This is an experiment for communicating. I’m still learning from this amazing problem-solving audience. When you see these 3 pictures together do you get any ideas entering the mind?

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3 months ago | [YT] | 84