Leonard Bailey

Who was Leonard Bailey?

Leonard Bailey was a toolmaker/inventor from Massachusetts, USA, 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. of New Britain, Connecticut.

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".

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