You may not consider it viable but this particular aluminum is stronger and harder than mild steel, which is why we use it. Incidentally it's also stronger than Ti6Al4v Type 2 and about half the weight. Once anodized now the surface and the core are harder and stronger than the steel most companies make brakes from.
There are many thousand examples of these brakes on the market for over 5 years now. If it didn't work, we wouldn't be able to sell them nor would I even try. I'll stand by the statement that I've made for just as long as we've offered these brakes:
The PVA Ultralight series is the lightest, highest performing ultralight brake series in their respective market segments. Size to size and weight to weight; we win on weight to performance, cost to performance and size to performance time and time again.
You seem to have some pretty strong opinions of a product line that you have no experience with. If you don't want to count your time, cost and effort that's your prerogative. However, comparing that to my actual business is far from applicable. If you don't want to use aluminum it's simple: don't buy it. Plenty of people have and they're quite happy with them.
So if its so much stronger than steels why not make an aluminum barrel, or rifle action without steel inserts. Airplane landing gear, or car axels, out of your special aluminum.
Stronger for its weight and anodizing are selling points of aluminum, and have application in industry, where weight is the priority, like airplane wings, & fuselage.
Which have also been made out of cloth and wood back in the day.
Anodizing is very thin and wears off, then ya have soft aluminum exposed.
For brakes I usually make or buy Stainless Steel to match the stainless steel barrel I install, even using the part of the unused barrel blank...if super accuracy is desired, and sometimes do not cut the barrel for a brake at all.
So the heat expansion is the same throughout the barrel, with all stainless steel.
Aluminum heats up very quickly, with a drastic expansion ratio, much different than the SS barrel. And a Stainless brake can be modified without messing with the thin anodizing causing it to lose all of its hardness, and some of the structural integrity.
Although easy to machine I will not ever buy or make a brake out of aluminum.
And thanks for giving me permission not to buy an aluminum brake...but it's my personal choice, not to do so.
Like I said, your stainless brakes could be considered, although a little long.
Depends on application, accuracy needs, recoil reduction needs, and personal choices.