Fractal 5 Pro: The Open-Source 5-Axis Printer With Its Own Slicer

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The Fractal 5 Pro is an open-source, benchtop 5-axis FDM printer designed to work with Fractal Cortex, a separate open-source slicer that generates toolpaths for its rotating and tilting build plate. The unusual part is not simply that the printer has five axes: its software divides a model into regions that can be printed in different orientations. That can reduce supports on suitable shapes, but this is a build-and-calibrate project—not a turnkey printer or a guaranteed path to support-free parts.

What the Fractal 5 Pro is—and what it is not

Developed by Daniel Brogan under the Fractal Robotics name, the Fractal 5 Pro is a buildable open-source printer design, not an established retail offering of assembled machines. Its hardware repository includes design and build resources, a bill of materials, and a stated GPLv3 license. The project describes the hardware as supplied as-is, without warranty; builders take responsibility for assembly, operation, and safety. See the Fractal 5 Pro hardware repository.

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The design draws on the Voron Trident’s CoreXY approach and three-lead-screw Z system, then adds two rotary axes below the bed. The repository lists a materials cost of about $1,900 before tax and shipping, using commercial off-the-shelf, printed, and custom-machined parts. That estimate is not a finished-printer price: it does not account for tools, machining services, labor, shipping, taxes, or failed parts.

The nominal build envelope is listed as 300 mm in diameter by 250 mm in height. Treat that as a cylindrical design envelope, not an unrestricted rectangular workspace: actual usable space depends on part orientation, nozzle clearance, gimbal movement, and collision limits.

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Why rotate the part while printing?

Ordinary FDM printers build parts in a stack of layers parallel to the bed. That works well for many shapes, but overhangs may need supports, which consume material and time and require removal. The chosen layer orientation also affects how a part responds to forces relative to its layer lines.

Changing the part’s orientation between sections gives the nozzle a different approach to some overhangs and lets the maker choose different layer directions in different regions. The Fractal approach is primarily aimed at reducing support requirements. It does not automatically make every part stronger, remove every support, or guarantee a particular surface finish. Results depend on the model, plane placement, clearance, bed tilt, adhesion, and whether adjoining regions can be printed reliably.

How the five axes are arranged

The printhead follows a mostly conventional Cartesian/CoreXY arrangement; the additional movement comes from the build platform. In this machine, the part rotates and tilts beneath the nozzle rather than being produced by an industrial-style robot moving freely around it.

The repository specifies a 30 × 30 mm aluminum-extrusion frame, a circular heated bed, and a magnetically removable PEI-coated spring-steel surface. A slip ring carries power and thermistor signals across the rotating bed connection, avoiding a cable bundle winding up as the A axis turns. The listed components also include a BondTech LGX Lite V2 direct-drive extruder, an E3D Volcano hotend, an inductive probe, Raspberry Pi-class control hardware, an Octopus Pro board, and Klipper firmware. Component details and configuration belong to the project repository.

What “its own slicer” means

Fractal Cortex is not just a printer profile for Cura or PrusaSlicer. It is a separate, open-source Python application built to generate multidirectional 5-axis toolpaths for this machine. Its documented functions include importing STL models, transforming geometry, defining slicing directions, previewing toolpaths, and saving G-code. It also has a 3-axis mode, so the project does not describe the software as exclusive to five-axis printing. Read the Fractal Cortex repository and guide.

“Its own slicer” therefore means a purpose-built tool distributed by the same project—not proprietary software that locks the hardware to a paid vendor. The distinction matters because an ordinary slicer generally does not produce the coordinated rotary-bed commands and region-by-region orientation changes this workflow needs.

How Cortex’s multidirectional slicing works

Think of the model as several regions, each printed as a stack of layers from a different direction, rather than one uninterrupted stack of horizontal layers. In the documented workflow, the first direction is normal to the build plate. The user then places additional slicing planes, divides the model into sub-volumes, and assigns a direction to each. Cortex slices those regions and generates G-code that reorients the bed between sections.

1. Import a model and position it in the slicer.
2. Choose the number of slicing directions. The guide sets two as the minimum because the normal build-plate direction is always included; one direction would amount to ordinary 3-axis slicing.
3. Place and adjust the slicing planes so regions can be printed from useful orientations.
4. Slice the regions. The resulting toolpath includes instructions to rotate or tilt the bed between them.
5. Preview the toolpath and save the generated G-code for the printer.

This is multidirectional printing, not necessarily non-planar printing. Multidirectional methods use separate planar or approximately planar layer sets and change orientation between chunks. Non-planar methods alter individual layers to follow curved surfaces, a distinct approach that can offer different potential benefits but involves its own planning and collision challenges. The Cortex project distinguishes the methods; a broader technical discussion of multi-axis and non-planar strategies appears in this research paper.

What using Cortex requires

Documented software environment

The Cortex repository documents Windows 10 and Python 3.10.11, with these package versions: glooey 0.3.6, numpy 1.26.4, numpy-stl 3.1.1, pyglet 1.5.28, pyOpenGL 3.1.0, shapely 2.0.4, and trimesh 4.3.1. These are the project’s documented requirements, not a promise that newer operating systems or package versions will work unchanged. Consult the repository for its current instructions rather than assuming a cross-platform installer.

Documented import-to-G-code workflow

1. Download the Cortex repository and open slicer_main.py.
2. Run the script in IDLE 3.10 64-bit with F5; leave 5-Axis Mode selected.
3. Use the folder icon to import one or more STL files.
4. Select models and apply transforms with the geometry toolbar. The guide lists Ctrl+Z to undo a change.
5. Set the number of slicing directions and press Apply.
6. Adjust the blue slicing planes using the five fields under Current Slicing Direction; use the plus and trash controls to add or remove planes.
7. Enter ordinary print settings, including nozzle temperature, layer height, speed, and retraction.
8. Press Slice, inspect the result with Preview, and save the G-code.

The workflow is more hands-on than installing a mature commercial slicer and choosing a printer profile. Plane placement is a design decision, and the user must understand the model, intended orientations, and machine clearance.

Calibration, collision checks, and operating risk

The bed must be aligned to the B-axis coordinate system. The hardware repository describes using a leveling bar to make the build surface coplanar with the B axis and says to repeat calibration after moving the printer. This alignment is consequential: if the rotational center is even slightly wrong, the nozzle’s position relative to the part can drift as the bed tilts. The project says an inductive probe is useful for ordinary bed leveling but not ideal for center calibration because its electromagnetic sensing field is difficult to characterize.

Cortex documentation says the slicer stops calculation and marks a plane red if it detects a slice plane that would cause a nozzle/build-bed collision. It also says slicing directions are ordered to avoid collisions with the part already in progress. Those are software safeguards, not proof that a crash is impossible: they depend on correct machine geometry, calibration, firmware configuration, slicer settings, assembly, and an accurate model of the machine. The hardware repository identifies improved center sensing and a more rigid gimbal as areas for future work.

• Rotational backlash, gimbal flex, or belt and gear slip can move the part away from the expected position.
• A slip-ring or wiring fault can affect bed power or temperature sensing.
• Tilting changes how gravity loads the part; adhesion that was adequate in one orientation may not be adequate in another.
• Changing layer directions can create visible transitions or interfaces whose bonding and mechanical behavior need validation.
• Rotating and tilting a heated bed complicates clearance, bed maintenance, and nozzle access.

Before attempting a real print, builders should validate machine geometry and G-code, keep emergency-stop access available, and test on scrap material. Pinning the documented software dependencies and recording the repository revision used can also make results easier to reproduce.

What has been demonstrated—and what remains unproven

The creator has published a video showing the printer, slicer, G-code, and a five-axis print, with segments for the hardware, slicer tutorial, toolpath, print timelapse, and future plans: Fractal 5 Pro demonstration. That establishes a demonstrated prototype and a set of files others can use to attempt a build. It does not establish a production line, warranty, standardized supply chain, long-term software compatibility, or certified safety compliance.

The repository discusses mechanical choices intended to support higher speed and lower vibration, but the available project material does not establish an independent speed benchmark. Likewise, the ability to control layer orientation is not the same as published comparative strength testing. Treat support reduction as a potential for suitable geometries, not a measured universal result.

Fractal 5 Pro compared with Open5x and Rep5x

Fractal is not the only open-source effort to bring multi-axis printing to desktop machines. The projects differ in what hardware they target and where their toolpaths are handled.

These are not interchangeable software packages: each reflects its target machine and workflow. Organizations seeking production-grade multi-axis additive manufacturing may also consider industrial robotic or CNC-based systems, which bring substantially greater space, integration, cost, and training demands; the technical literature discusses cost and complexity as barriers to personal use.

Who should consider building one?

The Fractal 5 Pro is most compelling for advanced makers, educators, researchers, and open-hardware developers interested in toolpath experimentation or geometries where changing orientation may reduce supports. A prospective builder should be comfortable sourcing parts, fabricating or commissioning custom components, working safely around heated and mains-powered hardware, and troubleshooting backlash, belt tension, flex, and coordinate calibration.

It is a poor match for someone who needs a plug-and-play printer, broad polished slicer compatibility, vendor warranty, production throughput, or support structures to disappear automatically. If the goal is multi-axis experimentation and the builder accepts a substantial mechanical and software project, Fractal offers an unusually integrated open-source starting point. If the goal is simply dependable FDM printing, conventional hardware remains the simpler choice.

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