Restore Plane Sole on Stanley Bailey #29

[Pat Barry]

My bride bought me a nice old Bailey 29 and I was thinking of restoring it. Just a basic clean-up and sharpening for the most part but the slot opening in the sole (what do you call it anyway?) is oversized on the front side (it looks good on the back / slanted side). How big should it be on this model? Should I leave it, or try to fill it in? If I were to fill it, could I just use a piece of cherry or walnut to fill it to proper size or should I match the original wood, which I understand is beech? I plan to use it when I'm done.

[Jon Toebbe]

I wouldn't put a piece in the mouth -- it would likely interfere with the path of the shavings. I'd recommend doing something like Bob Smalser demonstrates here: http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/readarticle.pl?dir=smalser&file=articles_610.shtml

[Pat Barry]

Thanks Jon, I'll consider that idea. Wasn't sure this was possible but it looks good from the description. What is the biggest problem from having the mouth opening in front of the blade being oversized anyway?

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

A 29 is what, 20" long? Probably not the last plane to touch the work, right? A wide mouth might not be such a deal.

Certainly, I've had some good luck playing with the chipbreaker lately, and then the mouth opening matters much less. . .