Blank lengths missing from the seating sheet

Luca, they're still in the numbered tray. Julia, nobody wrote down rocking or crookedness. Just six exposed-length readings, so I can't tell you they were all sitting square.

Would measuring the loose blanks first let the setter distinguish stock variation without repeating the loading check yet?

Yep, Kai. Get what you can from the pieces you've already got. I wouldn't repeat the whole exercise with another handful and then try to join two different stories together.

Also ask where the exposed length was measured from. A clear, repeatable reference on the fixture matters; the nearest convenient edge in a photograph may not be that reference.

Setter has the six pieces and will measure them separately. His original readings were from the chuck face. I'm adding that to the sheet, not guessing a different reference from the photo.

Don't make him squeeze the explanation into six tiny boxes either. We had a trainer write 'seated' for a part that had taken three goes to sit properly. He meant it was seated by the time he measured it. The next person read it as three clean repetitions. A little note about what happened is worth more than another tick column.

The full lengths vary too. Setter says he did reposition one blank before taking its exposed reading, but doesn't remember which one. That's the annoying bit.

At least he said so. That uncertainty belongs on the old set; don't assign it to whichever number looks oddest.

Maya, do you now have the two lengths beside each blank number? I'd look at those pairs before deciding what fresh observation is needed.

Yes. Two longer blanks account for most of the spread. One shorter blank still has more exposed than we'd expected. No idea whether that's the one he moved.

That's a useful stopping point for the old sheet. For the next supervised check, let someone watch the loading and note any repositioning as it happens. Asking the setter to reconstruct six uneventful-looking bits afterwards is a miserable memory test.

Have the setter look at the ends of that odd blank as well. A burr or battered end is worth noticing before anyone buys a new locating arrangement. Not saying you've got one, just that it's a cheap look.

I would leave the automatic-loading decision open until the people responsible for the fixture have addressed that remaining variation.

It's still open. The setter found damage on the odd blank's end and has put it aside for inspection. He hasn't said that explains the original reading.

Good distinction. Keep that actual piece with its number when it goes for inspection, Maya; an anonymous replacement would lose the comparison you finally have.

Thanks, Gabriel. Number is staying with it.

And the reloaded-but-unidentified piece is still an unknown, even if the damaged end turns out to explain the outlier. I'd leave both notes visible for whoever takes the next set.