Method of manufacturing a cemented carbide material

A method of fabricating a cemented carbide article by additive manufacturing, the method comprising:

• 1) providing a granular precursor material comprising granules, the granules comprising carbide grains and a binder comprising any of cobalt, nickel and iron, and wherein each granule has a density of at least 99.5% of a theoretical density and the granules of the precursor material have a mean compressive strength of at least 40 megapascals, MPa;
• 2) forming a layer of the precursor material atop a moveable platform;
• 3) delivering a pulse of an electron or laser beam to the layer of the precursor material to melt at least a portion of the precursor material and form a layer of material derived from the precursor material;
• and
• 4) repeating steps 2) and 3) to build up successive layers of material derived from the precursor material.