Everything Claws and Clamps makes is designed and manufactured in Melbourne. Three different industrial processes sit behind the three collections, and each one was chosen because it is the right process for that material and that product.
This is the geeky version. If you want to know which material suits you rather than how it is made, the Claw Materials Guide is the better starting point. If you want to know what happens inside the machine, read on.
We work with local manufacturers because we value supporting local business, and because we have earned trust in their consistently excellent quality. Every process below is additive manufacturing: the part is built up layer by layer rather than cut down from a block. That is what makes the geometry of a Claw possible at all.
SLS: Premium Nylon Claws
Selective Laser Sintering
A laser fuses nylon powder, one 100 micron layer at a time. No supports needed.
A laser traces the cross-section of each layer across a bed of fine nylon powder, fusing the particles it touches while the powder around them stays loose. The build platform lowers, a fresh layer of powder is spread, and the cycle repeats.
PA12 matters here for a specific reason: it absorbs very little moisture. Common engineering nylons such as PA6 are strongly hygroscopic, so their dimensions and mechanical properties drift as they take up humidity from the air and from skin contact. PA12 has among the lowest moisture uptake in the nylon family, which is why a set stays dimensionally true in use rather than only on the day it was printed.
The no-supports part is the real structural advantage. Because loose powder does the supporting, tight curves and precise claw geometries come out clean, without the witness marks that support structures leave behind on other processes.
- The texture is the material, not a finish. Sintered PA12 keeps a microscopic open pore structure, and that is what makes Nylon our scratchiest collection.
- The fit stays true. Low moisture uptake means the Claw you wear in a year is the Claw you bought.
- Complex shapes, cleanly. No supports means no finishing marks on the geometry.
SLA: Crystal Claws
Stereolithography
A UV light source cures liquid resin into solid polymer, layer by layer.
SLA starts with a vat of liquid photopolymer resin. A UV light source traces the cross-section of each layer across the surface of the liquid, curing it into solid polymer as it goes. The platform moves, fresh resin flows in, and the next layer is cured on top.
Dental resin is formulated for a demanding job: it has to cure to tight dimensional accuracy, hold a fine surface, and be well characterised for contact with tissue. Dental resins are routinely assessed against the ISO 10993 biocompatibility framework.
The glow is not a coating or an additive. It is the resin itself answering to UV.
Cured dental resins fluoresce under ultraviolet light: the polymer absorbs UV wavelengths and re-emits them as visible light. That is the same reason dental work lights up under a UV lamp in a clinic. There is no phosphorescent filler and no surface treatment involved, which is why the effect does not wear off.
- Smooth rather than scratchy. Where Nylon drags and scratches, Crystal glides, so sensation builds more slowly and stays sustainable for longer.
- The glow is permanent. It is a property of the cured resin, not a layer that can rub off.
- Sterilisable. Wipe down with a hospital-grade disinfectant.
DMLM: Metal Claws
Direct Metal Laser Melting
A fibre laser fully melts metal powder under argon. Not sintered: melted.
The process also appears in the ISO/ASTM 52900 vocabulary as Laser Powder Bed Fusion, and you will see both names used for the same thing. We use DMLM because it describes what the laser actually does: it fully melts each layer of metal powder rather than sintering the particles together below their melting point. What comes out has metallurgical integrity all the way through, not the character of a compacted aggregate.
Titanium is Ti-6Al-4V Grade 23. The material conforms to ASTM F136 and ASTM F3001, the standards that define implant-grade titanium alloy, the specification used for orthopaedic implants and surgical instruments. We use it because our manufacturing partner works in it for their medical implant work, and because it is the highest quality DMLM titanium available to us.
Aluminium is printed in AlSi10Mg or Al6061 depending on the product. Lower density again than titanium, a slightly different thermal response, and the alloy family that takes a mirror polish best.
Polishing is unhurried: multiple passes across several days, working progressively through finer abrasive compounds until the surface reaches a mirror. It is not a coating and not a plating. The polished finish is the alloy itself, worked down.
- Conductivity, thermal and electrical. That is what opens up temperature play and electroplay, neither of which nylon or resin can do.
- You set the temperature. Warm them in hot water or chill them in the freezer. It is a setting you choose, not a fixed property.
- Extremely light. Titanium and aluminium are low-density metals, so do not picture gauntlets.
- Fully sterilisable. Autoclave, boiling, IPA, hospital-grade disinfectants, or ethylene oxide.
At a glance
| Process | Collection | Material | Surface | What the process gives you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SLS | Premium Nylon | PA12 nylon (PA2200) | Velvety, no layer lines | Complex geometry without supports, and a fit that stays true |
| SLA | Crystal | High-grade dental resin | Glass-smooth, UV-reactive | Fine surface detail and a permanent UV glow |
| DMLM | Metal | Ti-6Al-4V Gr.23, or AlSi10Mg / Al6061 | Matte or mirror-polished | Fully melted metal: conductive, temperature-responsive, sterilisable |
Common questions
Is 3D printing strong enough for something I am going to use hard? These are industrial additive processes, not desktop printing. SLS parts are fully fused nylon, and DMLM parts are fully melted metal with genuine metallurgical integrity. Durability under repeat and rough use is one of the reasons we chose them.
Why three different processes instead of one? Because each material needs its own. You cannot laser-sinter a resin or UV-cure a titanium alloy. The collection and the process are the same decision made once.
Does the manufacturing process change how a Claw feels? Yes, and more than most people expect. The velvety drag of Nylon is the microscopic pore structure that sintering leaves behind. The glide of Crystal is the surface that UV curing produces. Neither is a finish applied afterwards.
Are the Claws medical grade? The titanium is manufactured to an implant-grade material standard, and we are proud of that. It does not make the finished product a medical device, and we do not claim it does.
Where are they made? Designed and manufactured in Melbourne, Australia, with local manufacturing partners.
Which one is for you?
Knowing how they are made is one thing, choosing between them is another. The Claw Materials Guide compares how each collection feels and what it is suited to, and the Claw Styles Guide covers shape and sharpness. If you would rather just be asked a few questions, Find Your Claws will give you a shortlist.