[MachineShop] Your thoughts

[Denis Muradov]

Replying to multiple people here:

I already took care of the tool situation. The Mill has a dedicated small
cabinet. One tape cabinet was all that was needed to store most of the
general tools. Maintenance specific tooling, that members do not need, will
go in to a separate dedicated cabinet. I will attempt to mount a cabinet
over the lathe and put lathe specific tooling in there, while freeing up
floor space (will see if this works). The rest of the lathe tooling will go
in to the cabinet next to it. The wood table will probably go away so I can
keep the green lathe instead. The other stuff that isn't junk, but has no
use in the shop, I will eventually remove. Scrap metal will get sorted
somehow where it doesn't take up floor space.

While I can understand if someone uses the shop vacuum outside of the shop,
there was no reason to remove the filter and the accessories. This time I
couldn't find all these parts, even with help. To be clear, this isn't just
about the shop vac but rather a long history of stuff going missing and/or
being misplaced. It's like we can't have nice things. I took care of the
machine shop vacuum, it was in good condition. Now, this.

On Fri, Aug 15, 2025 at 2:08 PM Rob Roy <lucidrobotocist at gmail.com> wrote:

> Understood completely. I appreciate the effort you have put into the
> machine shop and other areas.
> I also appreciate others efforts; not practical in a generalist machine
> shop but perhaps some tool sets could be arranged something like this?
>
> https://photos.app.goo.gl/jHmz82UijeJ6MxAD9
>
> I am hoping to rejoin and be present later this year, will touch base then
> to see what help I could be.
>
> With kind regards,
> Rob
>
> On Fri, Aug 15, 2025 at 1:57 PM Denis Muradov <denis.muradov at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> 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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