Earl,
Since this thread is now going slightly off track I'll try to bring it back by showing my ignorance and ask another dumb question:
Why do people use aluminium so much instead of steel?
I don't think you could be more off track than the question you asked, seeing the original question was about the phrase C-o-C.
But I don't really think it matters now anyway.
My personal view is that for someone that is new to this game, aluminium is a much more forgiving material for the newbie to use. It is the next step up from carving and machining wood (brown stuff).
It is relatively easy to cut, even by manual means, and it goes easy on your tooling. Surface finishes, with a little work, can lead to very spectacular results. Also being the most common metal on earth, it is usually within the reach of most peoples pockets, compared to something like brass, you can get more material for your buck.
For what most people do on here, which is to make small engines, in the beginning, ali is the ideal medium. After experience is then gained, more hard wearing materials can be introduced into their machining experience. There are a few pitfalls when using it, such as galling and being 'gummy', but most problems can easily be overcome by the introduction of a few small pieces of other materials, or a touch of lube.
I use it a lot for the main frames of little engines, because of the above properties, and use smaller pieces of other materials, or bearings, to make the engine long lasting and free running.
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