Wooden Plane Restoration Help
Hi all,
Long time lurker, first time poster here. I’ve worked almost exclusively with power tools in a fab shop, but I’ve been slowly getting into hand tools and I’m loving it so far. I’ve learned a ton from restoring a #4 plane and low angle block plane that I’ve been incorporating into my workflow with great success. So I recently bought a wooden plane with a long bed with the intention of setting it up as a jointing plane for big boards and table tops. Found at an antique market for $25, I bought it because of the length and the condition of the iron. Without any work it takes pretty good shavings already, however the bed seems to have a plug and a couple cracks. The plug is slightly proud of the rest of the bed, and it has a little bit of play when I press on it. Curious how you guys would go about fixing this up, or if you would consider the body too compromised. My thought was to add some epoxy around the plug and cracks and then plane the whole surface flat, Am I dooming myself to further cracking when the wood expands and shrinks if I do that? The wedge has seen better days too, wondering how much work that needs to be effective. Thanks in advance!