Werk One Assembly Guide

Werk One underwent a lengthy design process with many prototyping rounds. With each prototype we learned more about what influences both the sound and the typing feel and how both can be shaped by very small adjustments.
In some way, Werk One has always remained an experimentation platform. Many small tools that helped us to adjust the sound and typing feel are still incorporated in the final design.
Even if you are experienced with building custom keyboards, take your time with this guide to learn some of Werk One's quirks.
For soldering and other PCB related tips by Ebastler himself (the designer of your PCB), scroll down to the bottom of this page.
Please be a aware that Werk One contains tiny elements that can be easily swallowed. Keep your keyboard away from small children and pets as there is a choking hazard.
0. If you chose a copper or brass variant of Werk One:
We use a ceramic coating to protect the metal from oxidation. The coating is thin so you can experience the natural colour and the beadblasted texture of the metal. Rubbing or frequently touching the metal in the same spots can damage this coating and expose the metal to oxidation. Please keep that in mind. Please avoid using alcohol for cleaning the surface.

1. Carefully remove the 12 M1.6 hex screws and take off the upper housing. You will need a H1.3 bit. Make sure to use the right bit and never apply too much force.
Store the tiny screws safely.

2. Flip your Werk One bottom and attach the keyboard feet to the body.
Make sure that nothing is between the adhesive and the surface.

3. Place the silicone side-gaskets into the sockets. The tolerance is tight, so make sure they sit properly. The vertical gaskets should be slightly elevated over the bottom body edge, providing additional gasket layer between the bottom body and the top.
Attach the horizontal black poron gaskets to the corresponding surfaces on the bottom case.
We use an re-attachable adhesive so you can readjust the gasket position if needed.

4. Attach white or black poron gaskets that come with your set to the upper body.
OR
Attach the gaskets carefully to the plate "leafsprings". This could be a better choice with polycarbonate top units to avoid the visibility of the glue layer through the polycarbonate.
White gaskets installed on the top body or the upper "leafspring" surface will result in a slightly brighter and clackier sound profile.

5. Keep the cable attached to the daughterboard and place the daughterboard into the socket. Use all 4 M.2 scews you find in the bag to carefully screw it in. Do not overtighten the screws.
Refer to Ebastlers guide at the bottom of this page for more tips.

6. During the production process of Werk One we experimented with different foams in collaboration with Green Door Geeks and readjusted the plate for use of foam.
Your Werk One kit comes with two layers of foam. We think this improves the typing sound consistency and the feel whilst not compromising the light clacky nature we wanted to achieve with the floating elevated back design and curved resonance chamber in the bottom body of your board. You might find it difficult to insert the switches without foam, due to the flex cuts in the plate. We advise to use the foam.
The thin layer is placed on the PCB (you can carefully cut excessive pieces depending on your build layout)
The thick layer is placed above it:

7. When you connect the daughterboard with the PCB make sure that the connector is in the right position, the connector should glide in into the socket without use of force. Misalignment of the the connector or using force will result in permanent damage of your PCB.
Please refer to this pictures for your convenience:


8. Place your PCB-plate build carefully on the gaskets. The plate will self-adjust, supported by the side gaskets, and lock into the right position.

9. Place the M1.6 screws back into the sockets of the top body and carefully put the top body on your build. Start tightening the screws one after another, going from left to right. You will feel some pressure from the vertical gaskets pushing against the top body which is normal.
Werk One screw positioning and length will allow you to apply different pressure on parts of the plate. This way you can further finetune your experience. Different plate materials and switches will react differently to the pressure you apply. Play around, just never overtighten your screws. Too much force might damage the screw mounts, especially with polycarbonate parts.
Enjoy your first Werk One build!

Ebastlers PCB Tips and Warnings
ESD
While the Werk.One PCBs offer full ESD protections, these will only work as intended once the keyboard is correctly built and located inside its enclosure - please make sure to work in a safe environment before unpacking and touching PCBs. An ESD safe workplace would be ideal, but a regular not-plastic desk will suffice. Do not touch the boards with wool or polyester fabric, or lay them down on such. If you have a grounded device nearby (central heating radiator or desktop PC for example) we recommend touching a bare metal part on them for a brief moment to get rid of all static charge from your body. Avoid rubbing polyester on plastic before and during assembly (for example polyester shirts on plastic chairs or anything else that builds up significant amounts of static charge).
PCB Assembly and soldering
Our PCBs offer robust industry standard surface coatings and lead-free solder joints that will not pose any health risk, but we still advise against touching solder joints, components or pads unless necessary. Handle the PCBs by the edges when possible. If you assemble a solder PCB, make sure not to get any excess solder on other PCB components or short any pads together, as this can potentially lead to irreversible damage on the PCB. Use a temperature-controlled soldering iron and the right operating temperature for your type of solder (usually between 280°C and 350°C), and do not heat pads for excessive amounts of time while soldering to avoid stackup delamination. Wash your hands with soap after handling any PCBs or soldering equipment, and make sure to solder in a well-ventilated area and open windows or use a quality air purifier with HEPA and activated carbon filter during and after soldering.
Assembly
Assembly should begin with the daughterboard. The Werk.One follows the "C3 Unified-Daughterboard" standard when it comes to sizes, connector types and pinouts. It should come with the USB cable already attached out of the box. If not, carefully plug the cable in now. The JST SH type connectors are directional. The connectors have one "ribbed" side and one side where you can see a part of the metal contacts through holes in the plastic. If the daughterboard lies flat on the table, the ribbed side should be pointing up. Do not apply excessive force - it should slide in smoothly. If that does not happen, double-check the orientation and make sure there is no dirt inside the receptacle.
If you want to test your PCB before building for manufacturing defects, do it now - connect it to the daughterboard cable (again, if the PCB lies flat on the desk, ribbed part of the connector should be pointing up) and plug the keyboard into your PC after making sure no metal items are below or on top of the PCBs and the daughterboard and PCB are not touching. Now open https://usevia.app in a Chromium based web-browser (e.g. Chrome/Chromium, Edge, Brave, Opera). Click on the "KEY TESTER" tab (stethoscope icon) and check if all switches work by carefully bridging switch pads with a pair of tweezers. Note that the default VIA key tester may not be able to detect all inputs, for example ISO only switches on solder PCBs or the FN button will not trigger a key tester response. After sucessfully testing unplug the keyboard from USB first, then the PCB from the daughterboard (don't pull on the cable, but on the plastic part of the connector only).
Next mount the daughterboard into the bottom case. Carefully put it in place and add all four screws. Tighten them only half-way at first, then after all 4 are in place you can tighten them fully. Begin with the top right screw (next to the USB connector). This screw is an important part of the keyboard's ESD protection, as it ties the metal enclosure of the board to USB shield, protecting more sensitive components. Please do not use plastic washers, rubber o-rings or plastic screws for this particular screw - it will increase the risk of ESD damage to your board during use. The other three screws are mechanical only and do not need to form a conductive connection.
Now take PCB and plate and start by mounting all stabilizers. The Werk.One has metal platings for all stabilizer screw holes, so there is no need for plastic or paper washers with screw-in stabilizers and the screws can not damage the PCB. The solder PCB has markings on the bottom which will help you align the stabilizers and switches correctly despite offering a lot of possible layouts. Next start adding switches (and do not forget the plate). Make sure you have no bent switch pins. This is particularly important on hot-swap PCBs, where a bent pin can in some cases rip a hotswap socket off the board, breaking the PCB. Use the markings on the PCB to use the correct switch positions on multi-layout PCBs, then carefully solder the switches in place.
Troubleshooting
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VIA says "USB Detection Error. Looks like there was a problem getting USB detection working."
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This error means your browser or operating system is unsupported by VIA. You are most likely trying to access VIA from either Firefox or Safari. iPad OS, iOS, Android and OpenBSD will not work. On some Linux distributions you will have to manually edit system configrations to enable VIA. Known working are browsers like Chrome, Chromium, Edge, Brave, Opera, on either Windows, macOS or most Linux distributions.
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VIA does not recognize my board and there is no keyboard input.
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Does your USB-C cable work? Try another cable, or test the cable with another keyboard/device.
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Unplug the board, plug it back in while holding
ESC
, then after a second unplug and plug in again. -
Install QMK Toolbox (https://github.com/qmk/qmk_toolbox/releases) (click yes when it asks if it can install drivers), open it, then plug in the keyboard and hold the button on the bottom of the PCB for approx. 1 second. Does it yield any output? If it says something of "STM32 Bootloader", download the latest Werk.One firmware from https://www.caniusevia.com/docs/download_firmware, load it in Toolbox and click "Flash".
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Did you plug both ends of the daughterboard cable in correctly? Try reseating them and check for dirt or bent pins inside connector sockets.
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Contact our support for replacements.
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I can type, but VIA does not recognize my keyboard.
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Install QMK Toolbox (https://github.com/qmk/qmk_toolbox/releases) (click yes when it asks if it can install drivers), open it, then plug in the keyboard while holding
ESC
. QMK toolbox should write something of "STM32 Bootloader". Now download the latest Werk.One firmware from https://www.caniusevia.com/docs/download_firmware, load it in Toolbox and click "Flash".
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I broke the USB connector and need a new daughterboard.
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The Werk.One is compatible with the "C3 Unified-Daughterboard" standard. Most "Unified daughterboard" compatible daughterboards sold by keyboard shops will work (do not buy C4 or S1 or later versions, those will not work), but we recommend buying only official C3 version models with full ESD protections to make sure the main PCB will be safe. If you prefer a genuine daughterboard, contact our support for replacements.
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