Record No. 05-1/2 Bench Plane

How to identify it

• 15 inch sole with a wide iron.
• Record numbering mirrors Stanley with a leading zero, so an 04 is a Stanley No. 4 and an 07 a No. 7.
• 'RECORD' cast or stamped into the lever cap, and 'MADE IN ENGLAND' on the body of most examples.
• Beech handles are correct and original - they are not a downgrade or a later replacement.

Photograph needed: Record No. 05-1/2 Bench Plane - overall view, plus a close-up of the toe and bed markings

Buying and using

Record is the answer to the question of where post-war quality went. Stanley's machining declined through the 1950s and 1960s; Record's did not, and the market has never fully priced that difference in. For a user plane rather than a collectable, this is where the value is.

The same size from other makers

These do the same job at the same size. Parts do not interchange between makers, but the shaving does not know the difference - and where one maker commands a collector premium, another usually does not.

Every size, every maker

What it is worth

• user / incomplete $14–$30
• complete, honest wear $33–$68
• excellent, early Sheffield $75–$135

Estimated GBP range as of 2026-Q1, from a sample of about 25 sales. manually filtered UK sold listings; note the currency is sterling, and UK prices run well below US ones for the same tool Confidence: low.

These are researched estimates for a private sale in average light, not an appraisal. Condition, completeness and type move a price further than any of these bands do.

Sources

• book
  Dictionary of American Hand Tools — Alvin Sellens
• reference-site
  Patrick Leach's Blood & Gore (Stanley plane model-by-model commentary) — Patrick Leach