5 Axis printing
For me, the benefits of 5 axis over three is obvious, especially when the strength of the end product is important. There are some very affordable upgrades for our current printers such as "Open5X" by Freddy Hong. (Open5X)
The current problem is the availability of a slicer that can create the G code paths. Without a slicer, the option is useless.
Here is hoping Joseph and his team are working on this and are close to moving FDM printing to the next level.
RE: 5 Axis printing
I would love 4 or 5 axis 3D printing. I hope 5 axis printing will be viable for the hobbiest, it is going to take a lot of work.
I worked for many years with 5 axis machine tools. It is not 166% more complicated with 2 rotary axis, it is 400% more complicated to handle 5 axis work. Once you go to 5 axis you also need a way to compensate for the pivot points of the rotary axis not being perfectly aligned. The slicer and/or control needs to adjust the printing for the errors. The slicer and/or control needs to be able to adjust for print speed based on distance from rotary point when printing with a rotary axis moving and on. There is much detail I am not explaining here.
While I want 5 axis, I don't see it soon. Hopefully current NC Programming technology can be leaveraged vs. re-inventing the wheel that tends to happen in 3D.