together with a single pass of an electrode over a contact path between the work pieces in effect individual weld sections are instantaneously fused together at relatively high power density levels in these conventional processes the power density level at the work pieces is controlled by current programming of the power supply to provide a current flow of predetermined characteristics this current programming is usually fairly complex because the power flow to the work pieces must be sufficient to weld together the work pieces during a single pass of the electrode without overheating the work pieces also the current programming must account for variations in material thicknesses and other such factors if a high quality weld is to be made in addition the current programming should provide a desired cumulative power flow to the work pieces it should be noted that when arc welding according to the principles of the present invention it has been observed that a high quality weld is made if cumulative power flow to the work pieces 2 and 3 is approximately equal to the cumulative power flow necessary to make a high quality weld when arc welding according to a conventional single pass arc welding process thus in most situations it is desirable to adjust the magnitude of power flow to the work pieces 2 and 3 the speed of rotation of the work pieces 2 and 3 and the number of rotations of the work pieces 2 and 3 to achieve a cumulative power flow which is approximately equal to the cumulative power flow necessary to weld the work pieces 2 and.