Here are the details of what I did -
1 - Removed approx. 2 oz total of original blade weight by draw filing the blade, most of the removal took place after the fuller. So now it has some distal taper, not a ton but some and that is better than none. I did this by draw filing the blade with a 12" mill file. It Took a LONG time but its almost therapeutic after a while. I also decided to change the profile from diamond to hex on that final 1/3....b/c I like hex blades and figured what the heck...
2 - Removed a little under an inch of blade at the shoulders to increase the tang length and cut in additional threading on the round rod. The reason for this was I wanted to get the pommel down further on the tang but end up with the same grip length of 6". By pushing the pommel further down I moved the pommel from the round rod section of the tang end down towards the tang proper which is rectangle in shape. I keyed the bottom of the pommel some by needle filing square shaped cut outs on opposite sides of the pommel hole, not a major keying but enough that the keyed section of the pommel fits "around" the rectangle cross section of the tang....I HATE the idea of a non "circular" pommel (like a scent stopper type) fitted to a round tang section. Round hole + round tang = strong possibility of that pommel turning, then you have an out of alignment pommel which looks like crap. That problem has been solved.
3 - With the removal of blade section I was also able to increase the width of the tang where it meets the shoulders, and radius those 2 spots as the stock blade was not real rounded...possible weak spots fixed + thicker tang at that critical junction plus the wider tang now fills the overly large slot that was cut into the cross guard.
4 - Steel shimmed and wedged the cross guard into place. Blade was ringing with just the cross in place. It should not come loose.
5 - Made a new poplar grip. I went with a wasted grip with the upper section being octagon in cross section and the lower elliptical in shape. Getting the facets was a pain but I got it and am happy with it. Cord was then TIGHTLY wrapped around the core all the way top to bottom and covered with goat skin leather that I dyed red. The leather treatment on this one is my best attempt yet. I am blown away at how nice this one turned out.
6 - Blackened the fittings with gun blue. The fitting on the Roven are pretty nice. The only thing I had to fix was the langlets on the cross, where a bit slanted at the very top, a straightened them out so they are square at the top instead of looking like Gumby's head.
Showing the increased tang length and radius corners
![Photobucket image](http://myarmoury.com/images/pb/img.php?i=http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii553/bheff1066/20150404_133316_zpsyclrpb70.jpg)
Grip prior to pommel nut being attached
![Photobucket image](http://myarmoury.com/images/pb/img.php?i=http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii553/bheff1066/20150405_101720_zpsaqbtzjks.jpg)
Hex cross section, not as crisp as I wanted but..
![Photobucket image](http://myarmoury.com/images/pb/img.php?i=http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii553/bheff1066/20150405_101823_zpsgm34kui4.jpg)
![Photobucket image](http://myarmoury.com/images/pb/img.php?i=http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii553/bheff1066/20150406_183250_zpsjojjlyt2.jpg)
![Photobucket image](http://myarmoury.com/images/pb/img.php?i=http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii553/bheff1066/20150406_183239_zpsyggvs84m.jpg)
![Photobucket image](http://myarmoury.com/images/pb/img.php?i=http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii553/bheff1066/20150406_183126_zpsglulmtgx.jpg)