Bench&Brace

Identification tool

Identify a Stanley plane by its markings

One question at a time. Answer what you can see and skip what you cannot - the tool only asks what would still narrow the answer, and tells you what it has worked out as it goes.

  • about 6 questions
  • works offline once loaded

Question 1

How long is the sole?

Toe to heel, in inches. The markings date a plane; the length is what names it.

inches

Round to the nearest quarter inch. Skip it if you have no tape.

Lateral adjustment lever

Behind the frog, above the depth adjuster

Adjusters

'BAILEY' cast into the toe

Top of the casting in front of the knob

Castings

Knob seat

Where the knob meets the casting

Castings

Frog adjusting screw

Rear of the frog

Frog

Front knob

Front of the plane

Handles

Can you see this?

Steel depth adjustment nut (not brass)

The knurled wheel below the frog

Can you see this?

'MADE IN USA' cast into the bed

Cast into the bed, usually behind or beside the frog

Can you see this?

Three patent dates cast into the bed behind the frog

Bed casting behind the frog

Can you see this?

'STANLEY' cast into the bed

Cast into the bed, behind the frog

Can you see this?

'BED ROCK' cast into the toe

Top of the casting in front of the knob

Can you see this?

Bedrock with rounded sides at the top edge

Side profile of the body casting

Can you see this?

Stained hardwood knob and tote, not rosewood

Knob and tote

Can you see this?

Plastic knob and tote

Knob and tote

Can you see this?

'SW' inside a heart (Sweetheart logo) on the iron

Stamped or etched on the cutting iron

Can you see this?

'STANLEY' in a notched rectangle on the iron

Stamped on the cutting iron

Can you see this?

'V' logo on the iron

Stamped on the cutting iron

Can you see this?

'STANLEY RULE & LEVEL CO.' on the iron

Stamped on the cutting iron

Can you see this?

Kidney-shaped hole in the lever cap

The lever cap

Can you see this?

Blue or grey paint rather than black japanning

Inside the body casting

How this works

Each feature carries a date range and a rule about how it bounds the answer. A feature that appeared once and never went away sets an earliest date. One that was dropped sets a latest date. A few were only ever present for a specific window. The tool intersects everything you report and shows the overlap.

It also skips questions that can no longer tell it anything. Once the range is down to the 1910s there is no point asking about a lever cap shape introduced in 1962, so it does not ask. That is why the number of questions changes as you answer.

Some features are asked as an either/or, because the two readings are the same observation either way round - a plane either has a lateral adjustment lever or it does not. Others are asked only as "can you see this", because their absence proves nothing: a plane with no Sweetheart iron may simply have had its iron replaced.

What it cannot do

  • It dates the part you looked at, not the plane as a whole. Knobs, totes and irons get swapped constantly.
  • Patent dates cast into the metal set an earliest date only. Stanley kept casting old dates for years afterwards.
  • The questions read Stanley bench plane markings. Block planes, transitionals and specialty planes follow their own sequences.
  • Every range here is approximate to within a couple of years, and the earliest types are the least certain of all.

Once you have a range, the type study tells you what else to expect on a plane of that age.

Sources