Actually I either own or have ready access outside of DMS to all of the tools I use for my work. There are plenty of tools in the shop that I don’t use professionally or as a hobbyist, but I do care that they are available to the other woodshop users. The one tool I may never use could be critical to another member’s current project.
Note: A huge issue we are confronting is when members watch a YouTuber video that is incorrect for our shop environment. This often leads to dangerous operations and/or adjustments being made to the machines that cause the next member grief, or worse.
I do look forward to you grabbing a stool daily and sitting beside these machines in order to catch and correct member’s behaviors. And after the breakage, shooing the core caretakers away so you can make the required repairs. You know, send @TBJK a PM saying don’t worry, I will mill the part. Maybe another PM to @got_tools, hey don’t worry about driving in from McKinney tonight to fix this, I will get’er done. Doesn’t sound very enticing, does it? 
What I have noticed over time is 30% of members are serious about conforming to the shop rules, they really want to be quality members. 30% are pretty careful unless it interferes with the project at hand. Frequently I have had members try to negotiate with me regarding banned materials or banned machining methods. Their logic is since it is only a few board feet, or a one-off project, is is okay this one time. 30% are truly ignorant and will conform once confronted with an infraction. They just couldn’t consume all of the wood shop basics in one pass. They will become good members with a little bit of guidance since they want to be a good member. That other 10% doesn’t last long(churn), but they do a hell of a lot of damage while they are around. Obviously these are tongue in cheek numbers, but hopefully you get the idea. I’m pretty much of the attitude everyone is a good member until they prove otherwise.
I would much rather require more training and place passive resource management systems(RFID) in place in order to gain compliance, vs nagging and trying to catch people in the act. Our cameras along with RFID badge info is a great way to track adverse events after the incident.
A bit regarding my woodshop management philosophy.
Membership Deliverables: Uptime, Gaining Skills, Projects you can be Proud of, and Fun!
- I always view volunteer time as the most precious resource DMS has.
- Uptime is sacred. People don’t like tossing membership fees into a vacuum. It really doesn’t matter if the machine works most of the time, for most of our members, they only care about the times when they need to use it.
- If it is good for the typical member, it is probably good for me.
- I approach very few policies/decisions in a vacuum. I discuss ideas with many stakeholders, newbies, power users, internal committee members, former and current committee chairs(across the space), and BoD members @Julie-Harris @j801496 @TJSmith before heading down a path. The policies I pursue don’t happen in a dark room during the middle of the night, they will commonly have very broad support.
Please keep this in mind when you are forming your thoughts. I/WE welcome constructive counter arguments, but once WE decide on a course of action, its throttles forward. Afterwards, WE are off to solve the next systemic issue. So much better than living in “Ground Hog Day” time loop that consists of repairing the same broken equipment or correcting the same behavioral issues with yet another new member because our training system is failing us.
I’m still smiling, hope you are too. Have a great day!