A method, including: providing a layer of powder material (156) on a substrate (130); and traversing an energy beam (15) across the layer of powder material to form a cladding layer (10), wherein the cladding layer forms a layer of an airfoil. The traversing step includes: starting a first path (40) and a second path (44) of traversal of the energy beam from a common initiation point (48); forming a portion (60) of a first side wall (18) of the cladding layer and a first rib section (24) by traversing the energy beam along the first path and concurrently forming a portion (62) of a second side wall (16) of the cladding layer by traversing the energy beam along the second path; and creating not more than one initiation point (72, 96, 118) for each rib section (24, 26, 28) in the cladding layer.