Quote:
Originally posted by airspirit
Copper is better than aluminum. It conducts heat faster and it can HOLD more heat than aluminum. Basically what that means is that your block is more efficient and more resistant to temperature spikes from the block. There is absolutely no reason to make a block out of aluminum since copper is not much more expensive. Furthermore, anybody that says that Al and Cu blocks work the same is wrong. Unless you screw up the test horribly, you will not be able to set up a test that gets you identical results. It is impossible.
It goes without saying that this also sets you up for the battery effect in the fluid.
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Like I said before, Copper is far harder to mill than AL. It would cost me $10 worth of tooling to mill a block in Copper as opposed to $1.50 in Aluminum.
And the temp difference between AL and Copper is minimal. I made two identical blocks in both AL and Copper and got a whole .5C difference in temps. Sure Copper is better to a small degree, but not better enough to warrant the abuse on my small mill nor the extra cost of more expensive tooling to do it. Go buy a $2,000 mill and see how you take care of it.
The battery effect and growth are small issue. Remeber none of my blocks get used for more than a week!
If I were to sell these blocks I would get them anodized and use non brass barbs. But I don't. And as for Copper not being that much more expensive???? What? $18.55 a foot for .5"X2" Copper Stock, and $5.62 for .5"x2" AL stock. I can get it cheaper by the 12ft stick but the price difference remain the same. When you make a dozen blocks a year it adds up.