The laser engineered net shaping (LENSTM) process, currently under development, has demonstrated the capability to produce near-net shape, fully dense metallic parts with reasonably complex geometrical features directly from a CAD solid model. Results to date show that excellent mechanical properties can be achieved in alloys such as 316 stainless steel and Inconel 625. In fact, due to the highly localized nature of the laser heating, a fine grain structure will occur resulting in a significant increase in yield strength at no expense of ductility. The current approach lends itself to produce components with a dimensional accuracy of plus or minus .002 inches in the deposition plane and plus or minus .0.015 inches in the growth direction. These results suggest that this process will provide a viable mens for direct fabrication of metallic hardware directly from the CAD solid model.