Diamond or cubic boron nitride particles can be sintered into strong masses at high temperatures and very high pressures at which these crystalline forms are stable. Most of the desirable physical properties of the sintered masses, such as hardness and thermal conductivity, approach those of large single crystals; their resistance to wear and catastrophic splitting is superior. The sintered masses are produced on a commercial scale and are increasingly used as cutting tools on hard or abrasive materials, as wire-drawing dies, in rock drills, and in special high-pressure apparatus.