Custom guitar-maker Gordon Branch started making guitars from wood, the traditional material, about 25 years ago. He went in a different direction when he created a design based on an aluminum billet, relying on the metal’s acoustic characteristics for a unique sound. Recently he decided to try combining an aluminum billet with aluminum tubing, with stunning results.

Initially developed in the 1950s for manufacturing tubing with ultrathin walls for nuclear fuel cladding, the high-precision tube roller (HPTR) continues to provide a fast, economical way to achieve extreme reductions in diameter and wall thickness.

Stainless steel is favored for many uses because it doesn’t rust and it’s easy to clean. However, for medical environments, copper is making inroads. Copper has been shown to kill six varieties of bacteria, and the EPA has registered more than 350 alloys to have antimicrobial properties.