Journal

Sand 3D printing, also called binder jetting, builds a piece from thin layers of fine sand, bound by a liquid binder only where the piece exists. There are no moulds and no tooling. Foundries use it to print casting moulds. We use it to make the piece itself, in black quartz sand, up to 1800 × 1000 × 700 mm in one print.

At Blacksand, sand 3D printing costs €158 per kilogram, including VAT, at one rate for every piece and every designer. There are no setup fees and no tooling costs. A small candle holder costs under €100, a vase a few hundred euros, a coffee table several thousand. Fitted parts like glass or lighting kits are added at their own price.

Every Blacksand piece is made of black quartz sand, 3D printed by binder jetting and hardened with resin. The surface is the material itself, matt and mineral, with no paint or coating. Pieces are heavy, dense and made for indoor use in dry places. They are not for food or drink, and they are cleaned with a soft, dry brush or cloth.

Six numbers make a file printable in sand: walls of 5 mm or more, overhangs 7 mm thick reaching up to 50 mm, holes from 3 mm, two 30 mm escape holes for any closed hollow, 3 mm fillets on inside corners and detail from 1 mm. One print fills 1800 × 1000 × 700 mm. Send STEP, OBJ, STL or 3DM.

Every piece in the Blacksand Sand Store is priced by its weight, at one rate per kilogram for every designer, plus any fitted parts. The price follows the material, not the name on the piece. Detail costs nothing, hollow forms cost less, and anyone can check a price with a calculator.

There are two ways to get a design produced at Blacksand. Join the Blacksand Collective: you design a collection, we take care of production, images, the store, shipping and payment at no cost to you, and you earn a royalty on every sale. Or use Production: send your own file, we produce it in black quartz sand at €158 per kg, and you sell it however you like.

At Blacksand you commission a piece in five steps: share your idea, meet up to three designers from the collective, design it together, approve the final render, then it is produced and delivered. The price is a design fee, quoted upfront, plus the piece by weight at €158 per kilogram. There is no minimum: one piece or a full series.

Architects and interior designers can specify Blacksand pieces at a trade rate per kilogram, with specification sheets, sample packs and project support. Pieces are made to order in black quartz sand, from one piece to a series, for indoor use in dry places. Lighting is CE marked, tall pieces fix to the wall, and most pieces are ready in 4-6 weeks.

Binder jetting joins fine sand with a liquid binder, FDM draws with melted plastic filament and resin (SLA) printing cures liquid resin with light. Plastic printing is light and low-cost at small sizes, so it suits prototypes and small parts. Binder jetting in sand needs no supports, prints up to 1800 × 1000 × 700 mm at Blacksand and gives a matt, mineral, heavy piece, so it suits finished furniture, lighting and objects.

17 designers in the Blacksand Collective work in 3D printed sand in 2026, based in cities from Valencia, Barcelona and Lausanne to New York, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town. They design tables, lighting, vases, candle holders, clocks and sculpture, all printed by binder jetting in the same black quartz sand and priced by weight at one rate for every designer.

Black sculptural objects read best against pale walls and natural materials such as linen, oak, stone and glass. Give a large piece space of its own, group small ones in twos or threes at different heights, and light them from the side so the matt surface shows its form. Vases take dried flowers only, and candles always sit in a metal or glass cup.

Three designers in the Blacksand Collective work from Spain: Adrián M. Almonacid (Cuatro Cuatros, Valencia) with the BOLA candle holders, Luis Gimeno (Barcelona) with the Halo lamps, and Manex B. Mugica (Valencia and Bilbao) with the Citrus, Conus and Janzol clocks. Every piece is 3D printed in black quartz sand and priced by weight at €158 per kilogram, plus fitted parts such as a light kit or a clock movement.