Alright guys, I think the GB will start soon
Design:
It was pretty much even between Gaiden and Wodan. I'm just going to make an executive decision here and go with Gaiden as he's been fun getting to know and is quite responsive in all my questions. He even designed an Orion engraving for me without my prompting. Besides its quite similar to the Octagon V2 which I personally like.
Costs:
As I thought things are more expensive than the Octagon V2 weight. That weight was a learning process and both me and my manufacturer learned a lot through several mistakes. This time we're pros. =)
The cost for both Orion and Octagon will be the same. Using the Octagon V2 sales as a basis if about 50 orion and 50 octagon plates are sold with an even mix of SS and Brass, the pricing will be as follows:
Brass: $60
Engraved Brass: $70
SS: $45
Engraved SS: $55
The big change is that these are all going to be mirror finish from the start. What happened with the Octagon is that they weren't mirror finish....so the cost was $40 for blanks, and $45 for engraved. The end result was that the SS came actually mirror finish, and the brass was almost there.
Rich People Stuff
For those requesting exotic materials. I think you better have at least $500 ready to hand over. The prices I quoted a few posts back were for 12 people but my manufacturer is willing to work with you as long as you are willing to pay. I'm hoping some of you actually go through with this as having a weight made out of tungsten would be pretty sexy and many years from now, you would be able to pass it off to your grand kids as a family heirloom, even if keyboards have "evolved".
Screws
I am still continuing my search for screws, either way I won't be charging for this until it comes shipping time. This way it helps mitigate some of the costs and gives me more time to go searching