Thanks Colin and Lofty for the comments.
Colin, I did not clean these beyond a light oiling. From the look of the metal I would surmise a light polishing compound was used at some point. I am reasonably happy with the look and have no plans to change it for now.
I too like these simple honest blades. The tak is far better than the telek and seems to have some genuine age. The telek less so I think with visible grind marks and no real sharpness to the edge.
I think the takouba is made from locally smelted iron, or at least was made from "scratch", the telek looks more likely to be recycled steel to me.
I find these examples in some ways more interesting than the better quality typical 19th century trade blades. There is a lot more variance.
I forgot to mention in the original post that unusually the core of the grip on this sword is wood, with a layer of metal over top, then leather.
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