News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

_sammcf

As an engineer currently migrating decades old paper records to an entry level ERP, this would be an amazing killer feature that would blow my non-engineer co-workers away.

Basic version control on product data without shelling out for a massive overkill PDM/ERP/CAD integration would make me pant with hot joy.

Also as a curiosity I've successfully heat treated bainite stock that was mistakenly supplied raw with a butane torch, an infrared thermometer and a water bath. The end result was slightly softer and slightly tougher than the parts heat treated at the foundry at time of casting.

Basically it is a fantastic material and I want to marry it.

Yep we are in 100% agreement. To rectify my own lack of clarity, the sort of parts I am talking about are largely prismatic with a handful of holes and pockets, or for the more complex geometry, not more than around 300x300x300 in total envelope, so definitely not large.

For reference, bainite has completely replaced 8630 in all ranges of quenching and tempering as a material for us, and I'm currently in the process of phasing out most of our Hardox parts in lieu of bainite as well. Haven't used Bisalloy plate for years due to its even-worse-than-expected machinability.

I currently source a number of castings in bainite for ground engaging agricultural parts and it is what I would call semi-weldable - you wouldn't rely on a structural mig weld but I've had success with both tig welding and silver solder for attaching other parts with non-structural joins.

The big win for me is the parts can be air quenched - the slower cooling eliminates one of the biggest rejection flaws, straightness

Re:The future of agriculture on Wednesday June 15, 2016 @02:55AM (#11907591)
>Keyline ploughs

I actually work as an engineer/designer for a small business based in Queensland who build ploughs, including non-inversion deep rippers (somewhat in competition with Yeoman). We have in the last ~8 months sold a heap of rippers into WA in partnership with a local manufacturer, targeting clay pan breakup, pH remediation, etc. with a lot of success. It's interesting the way deep tillage and other mechanical soil management ideas are experiencing something of a renaissance out west at the moment.