[MachineShop] Your thoughts

[Denis Muradov]

I did this in the last place. Here are the issues I ran in to:

1) Need a reliable system that records the persons face and the action
itself. Meeting all of these requirements proved much harder than it
sounds. People would also unplug it.

2) You have to notice that a specific part goes missing. In my case I did
not need to use a certain tool for a year. This meant I had a year worth of
footage to check. I did not have that kind of time.

3) After you have the deed on video, you have to then identity that person.
With over a hundred members this takes time emailing officers.
Realistically you can only do this a few times.

While useful, such a solution has real limitations.


As a side note, I just discovered that someone removed the filter out of
the machine shop vac. I had just bought a new one a year ago. You never run
a shop vac without a filter as this destroys the motor.

On Fri, Aug 15, 2025, 1:09 PM Rob Roy <lucidrobotocist at gmail.com> wrote:

> Motion activated video recording (unfortunately), and gently correct the
> first time offender.
> I think it would go hand in hand with periodic inventory, video disposed
> of post inventory cycle.
>
> On Fri, Aug 15, 2025 at 12:54 PM Denis Muradov via Machineshop <
> machineshop at quelab.net> wrote:
>
>> I'm running in to an issue. People are "borrowing" things from the
>> machine shop and not returning them. To give an example, the vacuum cleaner
>> has so far lost the hose and the small parts attachment.
>>
>>
>> The issue I have with this is the following:
>>
>> 1) A person can borrow a single part and reduce the utility of something
>> significantly.
>>
>> 2) I takes a lot of time to try to find this stuff. In my case if I'm
>> working on a project I become then saddled with having to extend my stay
>> because parts that I needed to finish cleaning are now missing.
>>
>> 3) These parts are rather of a specific fit and hard to replace. A hose
>> can be made to fit, which is what we have now, but it's not the correct
>> hose. Any workarounds cost significant time.
>>
>> 4) Replacement parts, if they exist, would come out of the training
>> budget. This means that people that didn't pay in to the shop get to
>> benefit from people that do.
>>
>>
>> Potential solutions:
>>
>> 1) SIgns. Though in my experience these do not work.
>>
>> 2) I can put tools in to cabinets and put a combination lock on them to
>> prevent people from borrowing those tools. Certified users would have the
>> combination. The issue I see is with vacuum attachments and other similar
>> accessories that can not be locked up.
>>
>> 3) Putting tagout locks on all equipment with a plug. This "could" deter
>> people from borrowing them, and their parts.
>>
>> 4) Badge reader on the door, a number pad combination pad or just locking
>> the main door with a key. This might solve the issue, but could potentially
>> introduce new ones. The most obvious one is that in case of an emergency
>> (someone screaming from the shop) how would outside help get in? I know
>> that the two person rule should take care of this, but it's still a
>> concern. Maybe an occupancy sensor (or a few) that unlocks the door if
>> someone is inside, with a generous delay?
>>
>>
>>
>> This issue has always existed with the shop. Previously the "solution" to
>> this was to keep the parts list down and not replacing parts that break or
>> go missing. I am not a fan of this approach, because it also affects
>> training.
>>
>>
>>
>> Your thoughts?
>> --
>> Machineshop mailing list
>> Machineshop at quelab.net
>> http://pepper.quelab.net/mailman/listinfo/machineshop
>>
>
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