Stanley No. 5

Maker	Stanley Rule & Level Co.
Model	No. 5 (Bailey pattern)
Type	Bench plane — jack plane
Material	Cast iron, rosewood (tote, knob), brass
Sole length	356 mm (14")
Iron width	50 mm (2")
Production period	1869–1984 (traditional production)
In collection	multiple purchases (2021–2023)

The Stanley No. 5 is the plane you reach for first.

It is not a smoothing plane — that comes last. The No. 5 is about work: getting a board roughly flat, removing high spots, opening the grain. Jack plane is a name that explains itself.

Character

The No. 5 works best with a slightly cambered iron — a curved edge that allows an aggressive cut without leaving hard ridges. This is what separates it from a smoothing plane, where the iron is set straight.

A sole of 356 mm is a compromise: long enough to bridge local high spots, short enough to remain controllable. That is why the No. 5 is found in every shop.

In the collection the No. 5 appears most often in job lot purchases — it was the most widely used working plane, and there are more of them on the market than any other number.

Type Study (Bailey Type Study)

The Stanley No. 5 shares approximately twenty design iterations with the other Bailey bench planes. Dating uses the same features as the No. 4:

Era	Types	Years	Key features
Early Stanley	2–4	1869–1884	No Y-lever adjustment, patent dates cast in, rosewood handles
Transitional	5–7	1885–1899	Frog design evolves, patent dates, brass depth adjustment nut
Classic	8–10	1899–1909	Y-lever depth adjustment introduced, Eccentric Lever Cap, settled design
Sweetheart	11–14	1910–1930	Heart logo (SW) on irons, peak casting quality and fit
Depression / WWII	15–17	1931–1945	Material savings, less grinding, wartime production without chrome
Post-war	18–20	1946–1967	Plastic components appear, thinner castings, quality declines

For a jack plane, type is less critical than for a smoothing plane — the No. 5 does harder, less delicate work. But the Sweetheart era (types 11–13) still brings better castings and higher-quality steel irons.

What to look for when buying

Flat sole — check with a steel straight edge, especially on a plane from a working shop
Condition of the iron — jack plane irons are often blunt or ground unevenly across the centre
Frog without cracks — common on shop planes that have been dropped
Original wood (tote, knob) — the No. 5 was made in the greatest numbers, replacement parts are available
Adjuster and screws free of binding — surface rust is cosmetic, seized mechanisms are a problem

Source and references

Historical production type data from the Bailey Type Study (Patrick Leach). Standard reference for dating all Stanley Bailey bench planes.