[SOLVED] Has anyone found a source for screws?

Folks think these would work for the M1.6? M1.6-0.35 x 1.6mm Steel Nickel Wafer Head Screw #22005 [22005] : Metric Screws!, We have the screws you need!

And these for the M2?? M2x3mm 304SS Hex Drive Wafer Head Screw #20266 [20266] : Metric Screws!, We have the screws you need!

Which service did you use? I’m trying to get a case printed as well

@Cody_Harrison go to craftcloud3d.com

Thanks, placed the order today!

I love my laptop to no end but after spilling something on the trackpad that required a deep cleaning and I lost a screw. This is ******* ******** that Framework doesn’t sell or provide guidance on where to get replacement screws. Framework does NOT include an extra fastener for the trackpad, so my only option appears to be spend an outrageous amount of time sourcing a tiny little M1.4 screw or buy a completely new assembly. This situation is the exact ******* Framework convinced us giving them $1000 would prevent and yet here I am looking at a rather stupid e-waste scenario.
I actually was so happy with my Framework that I convinced my IT guy to purchase one to try as we are considering getting new laptops for the whole office and I sold him on reparability and sustainability. Not really seeing an advantage to going with Framework after this ****. Will apprise him to my situation and suggest he keep looking for something that he might like better since the whole point of the laptop is negated by losing a screw.

Hello all. This is a much more complicated issue than people realize and we are working on a stop-gap solution for those in need of packs of screws. Right now, if you’ve damaged a specific screw, or lost one that is needed, please contact Framework Support and we will take care of you. We have a small stock of these screws and can provide them to customers.

For those wanting to buy a pack of them, or a specific set if you are building a custom rig from a mainboard you have access to, we’re working on building up some stock of these kits, however, getting the very specific screws out of China and to our 3PL in Taiwan has proven challenging. We’re still working on getting a few specific bulk screw sets from China to Taiwan so that we can distribute them to our repair centers to build a small number of sets. We’ll provide these for a minimal fee that will cover our costs until we are able to handle the labor/distribution in a more automated way. This will all be manual for now.

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I’ve gone through your post and edited your language as it’s not needed. I’ve provided an explanation above, and politely ask you to contact Framework Support. This is an easily resolvable issue that my team can handle. Take a deep breath, and know that Framework Support is here to help.

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Both fair responses, I’m heated right now after having spent the better part of three hours trying to source a single screw. I’ve scoured the web, ripped apart old electronics and bugged the local hardware supply with no success.
I did not reach out to support first, I came to the community first in hopes that I could find my own answer. There are four unique threads on identifying and replacing screws. Not one of them includes usable information, just a generic, “This is hard to accomplish” and “We haven’t figured this out yet”. Zero responses from a Framework Team member urging customers to reach out to customer support so they can get them what they need. I apologize for coming in hot, that was uncalled for; if I had come across the information in your reply above anywhere on the forum and I would have just promptly reached out to customer support. The hopelessness of other posters finding the right screw led me to believe there would be no value in reaching out to customer support, nobody was urging them to do so and nobody was replying back that customer support had rectified their issue. I will do so now and if the issue is rectified update this thread with the pertinent information so future screw losers don’t fly into a fit of rage when they can’t find the screw they’ve lost while repairing or cleaning their Framework.
While I do appreciate the prompt response and the clear direction of what to do in this exact situation, that any future customers experiencing the same thing can now reference; I don’t appreciate being paraphrased or censored, I choose my words very deliberately, but I understand why you have to none-the-less.

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What happens when people post before checking for existing threads. :wink:

For what it’s worth, I started this thread because I wanted screws for a side project: I wasn’t trying to replace a stripped or lost screw. The other threads I’ve seen have been someone with a support issue like yours, so not quite the same situation.

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This is very welcome news!

I hope the intention is not only to limit this to a small set of spares, but to also stockpile a large quantity and/or arrange for long-term sourcing. Switching to different, more readily available fasteners would save Framework from the apparent logistics challenges, but I imagine this would require a redesign of the chassis as well, which sort of defeats the upgradeability concept for existing devices.

Perhaps for those of us building a custom rig, Framework could take some pressure off by updating the printable case design with suitable fasteners that are more common, and provide some guidance around maximum thread diameter compatible with the holes in the boards themselves? In my hunt for parts, it seemed that the options opened up significantly for slightly longer screws, larger or non-Torx drives, thicker heads, and screw+washer substitutions. I think users going this route will gladly tolerate a slightly less compact printable case, or the need for more driver bits than T5 and PH0, in exchange for something they can easily acquire and know will not damage the PCBs.

Thank you for the update, and best of luck with navigating the difficulties on our behalf!

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(I’ve had this draft sitting here for a couple months, probably should publish)

It’s concerning that the best search result looking for that mythical M1.6 screw is this thread.

I rolled the dice on the M1.6 from metricscrews.us and got them via USPS pretty quickly. Unfortunately the head is only ~4mm wide and thus doesn’t grab any of the opening at that location on the mainboard, so I’m still mainly secured using the expansion cards. On that note, the washers in that eBay grab pack look like 4mm as well.

What I ended up doing was still using screws from metricscrews.us but longer with longer 1.6 so there was room for the washer. The washer isn’t a great fit since it can slide around under the screw head, but it works better than expansion cards. I ended up using the following part numbers (note the color and material are not a match to what Framework uses, nor to eachother):

M2 Large OD Black Oxide Flat Washer #20699 (20699)
M1.6x2 Nickel Wafer Head Machine Screw #21082 (21082)

They offer the other missing screws I needed for the hinge kit and the display that are much easier to find. Unfortunately shipping cost way more than the screws themselves, which you can take as a hint for Framework’s point of view. Still, the drama is unfortunate (speaking of, I wish I could get a battery…)

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WHERE TO SOURCE REPLACEMENT HARDWARE:

With Framework themselves! If that’s not clear on the rest of the forum, let me make it perfectly clear here, if you can’t get something on the Marketplace, CONTACT FRAMEWORK SUPPORT DIRECTLY. They are really good at their jobs, within two days I had a tracking number.

UNTIL YOU SEE HARDWARE KITS IN THE MARKETPLACE, CONTACT FRAMEWORK SUPPORT AND THEY WILL HELP YOU GET THE HARDWARE YOU NEED.

Shoutout to Kevin, thank you for your help.

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Just something in case anyone missed it

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@Ryan_Oswalt its not that simple, Im exchanging emails with Framework support and so far the only direct answer i got was " Thank you for your reply. Our apologies but at this time we are not selling screws separately in our Marketplace. We recommend checking our Fasteners Guide and you can buy from your local hardware store or online."
Well i decided to buy just the motherboard (low budget right now) and then i started to buy the other parts later so i can have the full notebook, the problem is they dont send any of the parts with screws, so unless u buy the DIY Kit or the full Notebook u will ended up with all the parts to have the notebook but can get it together cause u cant find those screws, and so far the support doesnt seem to help in my case. If i knew that i would saved until i had all the money to get the DIY Kit, but i didnt think that could happen.

We’re working on building out screw kits now after a long and painful ordeal with our manufacturing partner. The three kits we’ll have available are:

  • Top Cover Fastener Kit
  • Bottom Cover and Mainboard Fastener Kit
  • Input Cover and Keyboard Fastener Kit

We’re waiting on the first batch to be sent to HQ for approval before we start producing larger batches. Thank you for your patience.

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Thanks @TheTwistgibber, any idea of ± when, i will need all 3 kits since i bought the Framework in parts over the last months and want to get everything together, since the parts dont come with any screw i will need them all.
Regards

I wish I had an exact date for you, but all I can say is that we’re still awaiting a FAI (First Article Inspection) shipment at HQ before we can greenlight bulk buildout. From what I can see, it was shipped from Asia and we’re just waiting for arrival. As long as everything is in order, it could be fairly soon, we’d just need to distribute the kits to our 3PL (3rd Party Logistics) partners globally. We’ll definitely keep everyone updated.

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Hi folks,

Just an update on this as it’s been a bit of a nightmare. We’re now expecting shipment of the fastener kits sometime next week from our manufacturing partner to our 3PL (3rd Party Logistics) partner in Taiwan. There were a number of errors made by our partner along the way that led to continued delays. We should have these listed on the website for purchase soon. Thank you for your patience.

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