Vintage hand planes
Work out what it is, when it was made, and what it is worth
A reference for people who buy, restore and use old tools. Dating and identification first, because that is the question you actually have when you are standing over a rusty plane at an estate sale with one bar of signal.
- 90 model pages
- 4 brands
- 20 type-study eras
- 12 guides
- every claim sourced
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Identify a Stanley plane by its markings
Tick what you can see - the lateral lever, the toe casting, the shape of the knob - and get a date range back. Works offline once loaded, which is the point.
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The Stanley bench plane type study
All twenty types from 1867 to 1967, with the fastest tell for each and honest confidence ratings on the features that are less certain than the internet suggests.
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The model database
Filter 90 models by brand, tool type, era and size. Specs, identifying marks, completeness checklists and researched value ranges.
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It isn't a Stanley - what is it?
Stanley, Millers Falls, Sargent and Record built the same sizes and numbered them completely differently. This is the translation, and the cheapest way to buy a good plane.
Every maker except Stanley numbered planes sensibly
Millers Falls numbered a bench plane by its sole length: a No. 14 is fourteen inches. Sargent put a 4 in front of the same idea. Record took Stanley's numbers and added a leading zero. Stanley's own numbering encodes nothing at all - the No. 4 is nine inches, the No. 8 is twenty-four, and you simply have to know.
That is more than trivia. A nine-inch smoother is a nine-inch smoother whether it says Stanley No. 4, Millers Falls No. 9, Sargent 409 or Record 04, and the four planes produce indistinguishable shavings at wildly different prices. The cross-brand table is the arbitrage.
Start with dating, not shopping
Almost every question about an old tool turns out to be a dating question underneath. What is it worth depends on when it was made. Whether the parts are right depends on when it was made. Whether that iron belongs in that plane depends on when both were made. So the dating guides come first here, and the model pages hang off them.
How accurate this is
This audience catches errors instantly, so the build refuses to publish a model page that lacks a real summary, at least two identifying details, a production span and a cited source. Records that fail those checks stay visible as clearly-marked drafts rather than quietly shipping as fact, and they are excluded from search engines. 36 of 126 records are currently in that state. The sourcing policy sets out where the information comes from and how corrections get handled.
Guides worth reading first
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Bedrock vs Bailey - How to Tell Them Apart and Which to Buy
The frog seat is the whole difference. How to spot a Bedrock in a photo, how to date round-sided against flat-sided castings, and whether the premium is worth paying.
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How to Date a Stanley Plane in Five Minutes
A decision procedure for dating a Stanley bench plane from the castings, adjusters and handles, using the features that actually discriminate between eras.
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Which Block Plane Is This? A Field Identification Guide
Bed angle, mouth adjustment and lever cap type separate almost every Stanley block plane. A short decision tree that gets you to a model number.
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It Isn't a Stanley - So What Is It?
How to identify the maker of an unfamiliar bench plane from its numbering, castings and markings, and why the answer is usually Sargent, Millers Falls or Record.