Abstract
The rapid prototyping and tooling technology has been developed. However, most commercial ones currently use resins or waxes as the raw materials. These days, the direct metal deposition methods are being investigated as new rapid prototyping and tooling technology. A fundamental study on rapid prototyping and tooling with wire welding technology using CO2 laser radiation was carried out in this paper. The main focus is to develop a simple commercial rapid prototyping and tooling system with the exiting laser welding technology as output and their microstructure, hardness and tensile strength are examined for the reliability. In addition, its advantages and disadvantages are discussed as a rapid prototyping and tooling system.