Lathe Loaner Program

[Michael Nathal]

I took the idea of the lathe loaner program that I got from this forum and brought it to our chapter. Our chapter officers raised several issues. I hope people here can help me answer their concerns.
1. One guy said that another club not too far from here lost their insurance when they loaned some lathes out to members. The insurance company said that the club was no longer controlling the risk: in a person's home, anyone could be using the lathe, and without supervision or training.
2. How do you deal with the financial risk? What if the loaner lathe gets damaged? What if the person with the lathe does not return it?
3. Do tools/other accessories (like chucks) come with the lathe? If so, what happens when tools are damaged or not returned?

thanks

 

[Mark Wollschlager]

Our club looked into something like that a few years back and came up with similar issues.
We have loaned lathes to be used for lathe demonstrations for the public.
These were done by experienced 'qualified' members and sponsored by the club.
We stick with scheduled skill enhancement sessions to give members lathe time.
Those sessions have a cost which is used to cover insurance and upkeep.

 

[John Torchick]

Hard to loan a lathe to a person to use at home and not have any liability. A club would have no control over how safe the person would be. Good issue.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

In Hawaii we can't get insurance for the club, we are under our home insurance policy. So is everyone else. Our loaner lathe costs $500. Would be silly to worry about the lathe breaking, we all know it's a possibility. We told our young turner that if the lathe breaks, the club has money to fix it. We just passed $5000 in our account, it's a risk worth taking, we can afford it. Bottom line is, if the club can't afford the loss or doesn't think the benefits outweigh the risks, don't do it. Having seen our young turner flourish has been an amazingly rewarding journey.

 

[Bill Blasic]

Mike that was caused by an idiot in the club who overstated everything and caused a lot of turmoil. We do lend out lathes to club members and are covered by our insurance. The borrower is responsible for the lathe in his possession and must take care of it. Lent out for a month at a time. We have never lost a lathe all the chucks are still with the lathes. Some tools did go missing but I do not blame the borrower as these same lathes are used in hands on. With a hands on over three days 24 to 30 people attend and may borrow some tools without knowing it (I like to hope that is the reason for the disappearance, I am an optimist ).

 

[Roger Wiegand]

Our chapter has lent lathes (for up to a year) for a long time. It's a great way to help bring in new members to the hobby. It also provides storage for the club equipment that gets used once a year for demoing at the local fair. I don't know how insurance is handled, but my experience broadly is that if someone tells you something can't be done because of the insurance company it means they don't want to do it and need a convenient excuse. It's not as though clubs have a whole ton of assets that can be taken in a lawsuit in any event. I'm assuming that AAW carries a Directors and Officers liability policy to protect its volunteers from personal liability.

Our club includes a chuck with the loan, I'm not sure about any tools. My impression is that the program has been very successful with few issues.

 

[Mike Johnson]

With a lathe rental program the club has a perpetual income source to replace the lathes over time and add additional tools and resources need for the club. When a club owns a number of machines for demo's it seems like a waste to have these machines collecting dust for most of the year when the investment could be put to work generating a income for the club. This could also be an incentive program for members serving the club with needed duties.