jndipworm:
Wow this thread really took off. To answer Paul_KD7HB, there have been no other post regarding this project. I've been planning and building components for this machine for 3 years now and I'm close to being finished. I was looking for ideas on how to handle counting the parts this thing will make. I haven't had time to read all the posts yet but it looks like I have several options. Thanks everyone for the input.
I just remembered another possibility:
http://zedomax.com/blog/2007/03/20/mechanical-hit-counter/