Abstract: A method and apparatus for fabricating three-dimensional objects according to the selective laser sintering process are disclosed. In order to reduce inconsistencies in structural and textural integrity, and in thermal effects that can cause distortion, methods for ensuring that overlapping laser scans are accomplished in a consistent manner relative to the thermal flow from the sintered locations are utilized. Methods are disclosed for achieving this by limiting the extent to which the laser scans object areas in the powder layers so that the time-to-return for adjacent overlapping scans is minimized; such minimization results in significantly less variation in the time-to-return overall.