Prusa INDX Nozzlegate: Bondtech's Soft Steel Problem

What happened

Prusa Research's INDX toolchanger for the CORE One+ promised eight-material printing with hardened high-flow nozzles. Owners who received early kits found something else: nitrocarburized steel nozzles measuring 30-32 HRC, far below the 55-60 HRC range of true hardened steel. The gap between marketing and reality has sparked what the community calls "Nozzlegate."

Why it matters

The INDX system swaps nozzles automatically. Each toolhead uses its own nozzle, so wear rates are a real concern. Owners printing abrasive materials like carbon fiber or glow-in-the-dark PLA expected hardened nozzles to survive. Softer nozzles will erode faster, and replacing eight of them is not cheap. Diamondback options are coming, but they will cost $130-150 each and will not arrive until late 2026 at the earliest.

Bondtech's response

Bondtech told customers that nitrocarburizing produces a shallow hardened case, not a through-hardened nozzle. The company said a "concrete solution" is not ready and that manufacturing truly hardened INDX nozzles could take months. There has been no offer of compensation, and Bondtech's Discord moderators have been deleting posts and banning users who pressed for refunds.

Prusa's position

Prusa has not issued a detailed public statement. The company committed to unspecified "material freebies" for affected buyers but has not explained how it will reconcile product pages that still describe "hardened" nozzles with the reality of the shipped parts. INDX upgrade kits are now slipping to mid-August, and the standard retail launch remains uncertain.

What owners should do

If you have a CORE One+ INDX kit, avoid abrasive filaments until a hardened nozzle option exists. Document your purchase and save communications. Swedish law gives buyers roughly a two-month window to seek refunds for goods that do not match their description. Check your local consumer protection rules and act before that window closes.

The bigger picture

Toolchangers are hard enough without supply chain failures at the nozzle level. Prusa built the INDX as a flagship differentiator. If the hardware story stays broken, the software advantages, zero-waste purging, fast induction heating, automatic calibration, will not matter. The community is watching how Prusa and Bondtech handle this, and the answer so far is: not well.