At Sandvik, they are printing indestructible guitars made of titanium – and everything conceivable out of diamonds. Sandvik has developed a composite diamond material for additive manufacturing that can be printed in highly complex shapes. The substance is extremely hard, has outstanding heat conductivity, low density, very good thermal expansion and corrosion resistance.

As the hardest natural substance, diamond is particularly important in making tools for mining and drilling work, but also in medical implants. Diamonds have been made synthetically since the 1950s, but processing them has been difficult until now and limited to a few geometric shapes. At Sandvik, completely new opportunities are now opening up: “None of us thought 3D printing using diamond was possible,” explained Anders Ohlsson, Delivery Manager at Sandvik Additive Manufacturing, “we are only now beginning to grasp the possibilities and applications.” Mikael Schuisky, Head of R&D and Operations, adds: “The only limitation on how this super-hard material can be shaped and used is now the designer’s imagination.”