Hello Henk,
I hate it when this happens.
I had the same on a moro kris, but only on the blade.
I removed the paint/varnish with pure aceton, and was not carefull to put it on the blade also. I rubbed it in with a lot of aceton and fine steel wool (first try to use a copper cleaning net instead of steel wool, and if you haven't got that, let me know and I could sent you some, but you could easily can get it everywhere I guess).
After the acetontreatment I cleaned it with water, and than I degreased it with lemon, cleaned it again with water, and than gave it a slight etch with vinegar.
The aceton didn't hurt the blade at all, and after the etching the blade looks great.
If you can't remove the black paint in any way from the wood, I would prefer sandpaper it and than treat it with some kind of varnish (antique varnish), to try and similate to get the old look back.
But that would be the last step to do, and still be better as this black paint in my opinion.
Good luck with the cleaning!
Maurice
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