Prusa CORE One INDX Kits Ship With Wrong Nozzles: Bondtech Admits Flaw

Prusa Research's much-anticipated CORE One+ INDX kit has hit a snag before most units even ship. Bondtech, which makes the toolchanger system, admitted that the nozzles included with the kit do not meet the 'hardened steel' specification listed on the product page.

The controversy, already nicknamed 'Nozzlegate' by the community, centers on material hardness. Bondtech says the shipped nozzles are nitrocarburized steel, which tests at roughly 30 to 32 HRC on the Rockwell scale. True hardened steel typically lands between 55 and 60 HRC. Standard brass nozzles fall between 0 and 10 HRC. That gap matters for users printing abrasive materials like carbon fiber reinforced filament or glow-in-the-dark compounds.

Bondtech disclosed that it ran into trouble manufacturing the originally specified hardened nozzles late in development and substituted the nitrocarburized version without updating the product description. The mistake affects every INDX Founders Edition unit already delivered and every initial CORE One+ INDX Upgrade Kit that ships in the coming weeks.

Prusa has not announced a timeline for replacement hardened nozzles. In a forum update posted July 31, the company told customers it is waiting for details from Bondtech and cannot provide a reliable availability date or price. Some community members are advising buyers to cancel orders until the situation resolves.

For now, Bondtech says the current nozzles work fine for most everyday filaments, including PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU, and unfilled polycarbonate blends. If you only print non-abrasive materials, you may never notice the difference. But if you planned to push the INDX with carbon nylon or similar compounds, you will want to hold off or budget for an aftermarket hardened nozzle set.