Weigh 2 meters of carrier with parts and same without (on a letter scale
probably), then the empty reel (on a scale good to 1gram), and the reel
with the remaining stuff on it.

You can move parts reel2reeel, no need to hike. Think film spooler (you
can adapt one), the kind that comes in 2 parts and each screws onto the
edge of a shelf. You can make an optical counter (using a PIC) and count
the parts while spooling reel to reel. This is in fact the technique used
in small parts warehouses (big ones just throw the remaining reel if
incomplete). Note that when you spool the direction must be reversed so
the 'right' side of the parts remains outside and the unwinding direction
remains the same for the target reel. Keep this in mind when you go to
find the film spoolers, there are some with a 1/way clutch. You don't want
those.

hope this helps,

Peter

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