Leonard Bailey (inventor)

Stanley advertising, showing Bailey's plane designs

Leonard Bailey (1825-05-08 in Hollis, New Hampshire – 1905-02-05 in New York City) was a toolmaker/cabinet maker from Massachusetts, United States, who in the mid-to-late nineteenth century patented several features of woodworking equipment. Most prominent of those patents were the planes manufactured by the Stanley Rule & Level Co. (now Stanley Black & Decker) of New Britain, Connecticut.^[1]

Commonly known as Stanley/Bailey planes, these planes were prized by woodworkers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and remain popular by today's wood craftsman. A type study of his patented planes and the rest of the Stanley line may be found at Patrick Leach's "Blood and Gore".^[2]

Bailey's design ideas are still utilized by Stanley and other plane manufacturers to this day.

References