Getting started with the Ender 5 Pro 3D printer
Get Printing
Just unpack and get started? It's not so easy with hobby 3D printing.
Whether it's decorative elements for a new case-modding project, custom trees to add a flourish to the Gloomhaven board game, or homemade gears for quirky gadgets, 3D printers make craft projects much easier – or so I thought. I had been struggling with my conscience for a long time about buying a 3D printer and weighing the arguments. Do I really need this? Isn't there a lot of work involved? Could I maybe invest the money in a better way?
Eventually, I gave in to my cravings when Chinese manufacturer Creality3D offered the Ender 5 Pro [1] for just EUR350 (~$414). Two weeks later, the package reached my home. After I unpacked, one of my first fears disappeared. I thought the DIY assembly would be complicated, but it was actually relatively easy (Figure 1). However, I soon discovered that the initial assembly was only the beginning of my quest. Of course, this story is only about one man and one 3D printer model, but many of the issues I faced are similar to problems you might see with other hobby printers. This article is intended as a practical case study on what it takes to get a 3D printer assembled and working in the real world.
Successful Build
The Ender 5 Pro arrives with some pre-assembled parts. You won't need to assemble the printing bed, the extruder, or the microcontroller (including the display). An easily understandable set of build instructions and the right tools for the bolting work are also included, and everything is packaged between soft foam pads.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Dash to Panel Maintainer Quits
Charles Gagnon has stepped away as maintainer of the popular Dash to Panel Gnome extension.
-
CIQ Releases Security-Hardened Version of Rocky Linux
If you're looking for an enterprise-grade Linux distribution that is hardened for business use, there's a new version of Rocky Linux that's sure to make you and your company happy.
-
Gnome’s Dash to Panel Extension Gets a Massive Update
If you're a fan of the Gnome Dash to Panel extension, you'll be thrilled to hear that a new version has been released with a dock mode.
-
Blender App Makes it to the Big Screen
The animated film "Flow" won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards held on March 2, 2025 and Blender was a part of it.
-
Linux Mint Retools the Cinnamon App Launcher
The developers of Linux Mint are working on an improved Cinnamon App Launcher with a better, more accessible UI.
-
New Linux Tool for Security Issues
Seal Security is launching a new solution to automate fixing Linux vulnerabilities.
-
Ubuntu 25.04 Coming Soon
Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky Puffin) has been given an April release date with many notable updates.
-
Gnome Developers Consider Dropping RPM Support
In a move that might shock a lot of users, the Gnome development team has proposed the idea of going straight up Flatpak.
-
openSUSE Tumbleweed Ditches AppArmor for SELinux
If you're an openSUSE Tumbleweed user, you can expect a major change to the distribution.
-
Plasma 6.3 Now Available
Plasma desktop v6.3 has a couple of pretty nifty tricks up its sleeve.