Unsmashable 3D printed guitar imagined by Sandvik

Sandvik, an expert in metal additive manufacturing, has developed an original 3D printed guitar: it is apparently unbreakable. No matter how much force the musician uses to smash it against the ground, it should not break. Guitar smashing, which began to appear on stage in the 1960s, is an integral part of the artists’ show and is an iconic image of rock & roll. Imagine a guitar that can’t break despite trying: this would be surprising on stage to say the least! This is the idea behind Sandvik’s project that used additive manufacturing to design an unsmashable guitar.

3D printing and music go hand in hand: new technologies are nowadays used in the design of original instruments, pushing the limits in terms of design, but also creating more powerful speakers and all types of accessories.

Credits: Sanvik

The unbreakable 3D printed guitar was designed by Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen and then carried by Henrik Loikkanen, machining process developer at Sandvik Coromant, who also plays the guitar. He adds: “We had to design a guitar that is unsmashable in all the different ways you can smash a guitar. The engineering challenge was that critical joint between the neck and the body that usually cracks on a guitar.” To overcome this problem, Sandvik’s engineers explain that they eliminated the joint between the neck and body. Instead the neck and fretboard of the guitar were milled together from solid bars of recycled stainless steel. The two parts then extended into a kind of rectangular knot, penetrating deeply into the guitar body.