Upon receiving a print job, the printer controller moves the stage into its initial position and starts the welder feeding wire.() The arc is initiated automatically and the stage moves at a relatively constant speed laying bead in the pattern dictated by G-code. The model is built in the z-direction essentially by padding one bead atop another until the entire depth of the model is created. The model can be hollowor partially to fully in_lled. Upon conclusion of printing, the stage moves the piece away from the welding gun and terminates wire feed and welder current. Prints approaching an hour in
length have been performed without hitting the duty cycle of the consumer-grade welder employed in this initial investigation; print duration is of course a function of the size and
complexity of the model being printed.