Ariel, I do understand that from your perspective the comments I have made in respect of the ideal restoration for this pedang might seem a little extreme. However, we form our opinions based upon our experience and background:- your experience and background indicates that the restoration I would deem to be suitable is going too far, whereas my experience and background tells me that I am looking at something that has been very poorly treated in the past and now deserves to be given some respect.
When dealing with the respected iron (tosan aji) of Indonesia, and of Jawa and Bali in particular, we need to try to understand that it is the iron component alone of a weapon that holds the spirit of the weapon, the hilt and scabbard are merely dress items. The parallel can be drawn, and in Javanese thought is drawn, with a human being:- a man stripped of his clothing contains his spirit within, it is the man we value, not the clothing. Similarly with a weapon:- it is the blade we value, the dress is a passing thing.
If this pedang were to fall into the hands of a Javanese gentleman who followed traditional values, it would probably be stripped of that hilt, and the inferior scabbard, and totally redressed in a bespoke hilt and scabbard of scented sandalwood. The blade would be minimally reshaped to remove rough edges, the faces of the blade may, or may not be slightly re-polished, then restained. In short, it would undergo a complete renovation, the objective of which would be to bring the tosan aji component of this pedang to a standard which would assist in the continuation of its life --- yes, it is alive --- for following generations.
Anybody who has received traditional instruction in the field of Javanese values would recognise that these actions described above are a duty to the maker of this blade, to its previous owners, and to the culture of which all are a part.
I understand that this is a slightly different way of looking at things from the usual way in which collectors of antiques from Western cultures look at what they collect, but in the thought patterns of the culture from which this pedang comes, it is not really an antique, it is tosan aji, and as such a living thing.
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