Stanley Rule & Level Co.
The Stanley Works
New Britain, Connecticut

DATM (1999) states that "the Stanley family had been making hardware in New Britain from 1831 on; they used a series of other names before they became the Stanley Works in 1852.  In 1854, brothers August and Timothy Stanley and Thomas Conklin (an earlier rule maker in Bristol, CT) formed [the August Stanley & Co.] ...concurrently, they acquired the rule business of Seth Savage, Middletown, CT.  In 1857, this company merged with Hall & Knapp as the Stanley Rule and Level Co." (pg. 748).

DATM continues on page 749 to state that Henry Stanley was the first president of Stanley Rule & Level Co.  Henry was concurrently the president of the Stanley Works, a maker of hardware, which maintained a separate corporate identity from Stanley Rule & Level Co. until 1920 when they merged.  "The S. R. & L. Co. continued to expand its product line by acquiring other companies making tools they wanted to add and to expand their market volume by acquiring competitive companies.  Their major pre-1900 acquisitions were:"

  • Hill & Crum, Unionville, CT
  • Charles L. Mead (successor to E.A. Stearns & Co.), 1863
  • Bailey, Cheney & Co., 1869
  • Leonard Bailey & Co., 1878
  • Bailey Wringing Machine Co., 1880
  • R.H. Mitchell & Co., 1871
  • Upston (Upson?) Nut Co., 1893
Patent rights acquired by S. R. & L. Co:
  • Many of the approximately 44 issued to Leonard Bailey from 1855 to 1903 (Frank M. Bailey was a Stanley plane room foreman and had three patents assigned to Stanley)
  • Nathan S. Clement; 19 March 1867 tool handle
  • A. Williams; combination gauge
  • W.T. Nicholson; levels
  • C.G. Miller; planes
  • G.A. Warren; planes
  • Dorn; planes
  • Justice Traut; multiple plane patents
DATM (1999) indicates the famous and prolific Atha Tool Co. may have been producing tools as early as 1875 in Newark, NJ.  Buying out many competing tool and hammer makers, they were themselves purchased by the Stanley Rule & Level Co. in 1913, who retained their touchmark.

The following history is excerpted from a 1937 Tool Talks publication by Stanley Tool:

The manufacture of "Bailey" Planes by Stanley marked a turning point in the Company's history.  Other hand tools were soon added to the Stanley line-Mitre Boxes, Screw Drivers, Wood and Iron Levels, Bit Braces, Hand Drills, Hammers, Try Squares. With these new tools, The Stanley Rule & Level Co. produced the most complete line of woodworking tools in the world.

Stanley's dominant position was recognized by carpenters and mechanics everywhere who turned over their problems and suggestions to the Company. This created a demand for specialized tools to perform certain jobs better than they could be done with regular size or style tools. Stanley responded by increasing its line to still greater proportions to include many more hand tools that helped craftsmen do better work. A search of the U. S. Patent Office would undoubtedly disclose that The Stanley Rule & Level Co. took out more patents during this period than any other industrial organization in the country.

NEW COMPANIES ANNEXED
In the early years of this century the march of progress continued. In 1904 the George E. Wood Company, of Plantsville, Conn., manufacturers of "Hurwood" Screw Drivers was bought. The business was enlarged under Stanley leadership and Stanley "Hurwood" Screw Drivers became the biggest selling quality drivers in the world.

Two other companies were purchased in 1913 and 1916. The products of these companies, Atha Tool Co., of Newark, N. J., and The Eagle Square Manufacturing Co., South Shaftsbury, Vt., brought handled hammers, sledges, wedges, anvil tools and carpenters' steel squares to the Stanley line. Today both these plants are busy producing hand tools as branch plants of the Stanley organization.

To maintain leadership in the Canadian market, a tool plant was opened by Stanley at Roxton Pond, Quebec in 1906. Known in Canada as the Stanley Tool Company, Ltd., the Roxton Pond factory now makes 80 per cent of all the Stanley Tools sold in Canada.

In 1920 The Stanley Rule & Level Co., for many years a full-grown organization merged with another New Britain firm, The Stanley Works.

Stanley. Grey iron castings. This article is reproduced as a tool information file.
References (Click on the author link to see the full citation and any other annotations.)
Aber, R. James. Some notes on Gage planes.
Astragal Press. The Stanley catalog collection: 1855 - 1898: Four decades of rules, levels, try-squares, planes, and other Stanley tools and hardware.
Blanchard, Clarence. The number one: Cute and useful.
Burdick, James M. History of the Bailey Plane business from 1869.
Heckel, David E. The Stanley "forty-five" combination plane.
Jacob, Walter W. The Stanley Rule & Level Company: Its historic beginning.
  • "There have been several accounts of Stanley's early beginnings, but new research has uncovered heretofore unknown discoveries." (pg. 80).
  • "A. Stanley & Company, a manufacturer of boxwood and ivory rules, was formed by a partnership of Augustus Stanley, his brother Timothy W. Stanley, cousin Gad Stanley, and Thomas A. Conklin, Augustus Stanley's father-in-law.  The year 1850 is stated by Warren in The Stanley Families of America, as the date the partnership commenced." (pg. 80).
  • "A. Stanley & Company became Stanley Rule & Level Company by certificate of organization filed with the Connecticut Secretary of State on September 27, 1858.  These transaction officially joined the two companies (Hall & Knapp and A. Stanley & Company), both of which had common shareholders, into one name -- the Stanley Rule & Level Company.  Although 1858 is when all legal work was completed, the original voted agreements were decided on July 1, 1857." (pg. 84).
Jacob, Walter W. The Stanley Rule & Level Company: Charles L. Mead and the acquisition of E. A. Stearns.
Jacob, Walter W. Brace up for a bit of Stanley history part III: 1917 to 1958.
  • The later (post Fray) history of Stanley bit and brace design.
  • "By 1927 the company applied this [ratchet screwdriver] patent to a new style of concealed ratchet, ball bearing bit brace.  It was numbered the No. 810 and was advertised as 'The Aristocrat of bit braces'.  This would turn out to be the finest bit brace that Stanley would make.  It had a cocobolo head and handle, forged universal jaws, a ratchet mechanism with 16 divisions permitting operation in small spaces, and a metal clad, bronze-bushed, ball bearing head." (pg. 63).
  • "On 1 May 1946 Stanley purchased the North Brothers Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia.  the North Brothers Company manufactured 'Yankee' ratchet screwdrivers, hand drills, and braces.  With this acquisition Stanley acquired one of the best braces manufactured: the models 2100 and 2101.  they differ only in finish.  ...These braces were preferred for use by public utilities, telephone companies, and industrial plants because they were made of a super rugged construction that held up under adverse conditions." (pg. 65).
  • "Walter W. Jacobs writes a regular column about Stanley Tools for The Chronicle.  This article is the third in a series on Stanley braces which began in The Chronicle, Vol. 52, No. 4 (December 1999)." (pg. 65).

Jacob, Walter W. Stanley tapes measure the world part II.
Jacob, Walter W. Stanley tapes measure the world part III.
Jacob, Walter W. Stanley tapes measure the world part IV.
Jacob, Walter W. The turn of the screw: The history of Stanley screwdrivers.
Jacob, Walter W. (December 2008). Stanley hand drills part VI: Defiance brand hand drills. The Chronicle. 61(4). pg. 166-70.
Jacob, Walter W. (2011). Stanley woodworking tools: The finest years: Research and type studies adapted from The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association.
Lamond, Thomas C. The Bailey Tool Co. -- The Stanley Rule & Level Co. -- Edw. Preston & Sons, Ltd.: A circumstantial connection? or... whatever happened to the Defiance spokeshave line?
Lamond, Tom. (Fall 2009). Stanley hatchets and axes.
Pernis, Paul Van. Leonard Bailey's first planes.
Roberts, Ken. The Stanley Rule & Level Company's combination planes featuring the development and use of the Miller, Traut, and Stanley 45 and 55 planes. Miller's patent combined plow, filletster and matching plane.
Rodengen, J. L. The legend of Stanley: 150 years of the Stanley Works.
Sellins, Alvin. The Stanley plane: A history and descriptive inventory.
Smith, Roger K. Transitional and metal planes: Stanley no. 18 and no. 19 knuckle-joint block planes, general information and type study.
Stanley, Philip E. Boxwood & ivory: Stanley traditional rules, 1855 - 1975.
Stanley, Philip E. A concordance of major American rule makers.
Stanley. Stanley Tool history.
Stanley. Facts about tools: A message from Stanley.
Stanley. Stanley improved labor saving carpenters' tools including "Bailey" adjustable plane.
Stanley. 1859 Price list of boxwood and ivory rules, levels, try squares, sliding T bevels, gauges, &c., manufactured by the Stanley Rule and Level Company, also including the price list of boxwood and ivory rules manufactured by A. Stanley & Co., New Britain, Conn. Jan. 1855.
Stanley. (1867). Price list of U. S. standard boxwood and ivory rules, levels, try squares, gauges, handles, mallets, hand screws, &c. manufactured by the Stanley Rule and Level Company, New Britain, Conn., and Brattleboro', VT
Stanley. (January 1872). Price list of U. S. standard boxwood and ivory rules: Levels, try squares, gauges, iron and wood bench planes, mallets, hand screws, spoke shaves, srew drivers, etc. manufactured by the Stanley Rule and Level Co., New Britain, Conn. Reprinted in February 1981 by Ken Roberts Publishing Company, Fitzwilliam, NH. IS.
Stanley. (1879). Price list of U. S. standard boxwood and ivory rules, plumbs and levels, try squares, bevels, gauges, mallets, iron and wood adjustable planes, spoke shaves, screw drivers, awl hafts, handles, etc. manufactured by the Stanley Rule and Level Company, New Britain, Conn., U.S.A.
Stanley. (Jan. 1, 188?). Bailey's patent adjustable bench planes and other improved carpenters' tools manufactured by the Stanley Rule and Level Company, New Britain, Conn.
Stanley. (1888). Price list: Improved labor-saving carpenters' tools manufactured by the Stanley Rule and Level Co.
Stanley. (1892). Price list: Improved labor-saving carpenters' tools manufactured by the Stanley Rule and Level Co.
Stanley. (1898). Price list of U. S. standard boxwood and ivory rules, plumbs and levels, try squares, bevels, gauges, mallets, iron and wood adjustable planes, spoke shaves, screw drivers, awl hafts, handles, etc. manufactured by the Stanley Rule and Level Co. New Britain, Conn., U.S.A.
Stanley. The Stanley bed rock: A new plane.
Stanley. Catalog: Carpenters & Mechanics Tools: No. 102.
Stanley. "55" plane and how to use it.
Stanley. Read this before you use Stanley planes: A plane is no better than its cutter.
Stanley. The Stanley catalog collection, 1855 to 1898: Four decades of rules, levels, try-squares, planes, and other Stanley tools and hardware.
Stanley. Catalog: Stanley tools ~ in sets.
Stanley. Stanley tools for carpenters and mechanics: Catalog no. 129.
Stanley. Catalog: 45 plane: Seven planes in one.
Stanley. Catalog: Stanley tools.
Stanley. Combination planes: Historical development, patents and uses.
Stanley. (1994). Tool traditions catalog.
Stanley. (1995). Tool traditions catalog.
Stanley. Insert: Read this before you use: Combination plane no. 46.
Walter, John. Antique & Collectible Stanley planes: 1988 price guide.
Walter, John. Antique & Collectible Stanley tools: A guide to identity & value.
Walter, John. Antique & Collectible Stanley tools: 2000 pocket price guide.
Walter, John. Reproduction of a Stanley Tools newsletter: The Iron Age: Thursday, November 3, 1898: The making of the cast iron carpenters' plane.


The Stanley Works This company is still in business.
  • "In 1843, an enterprising businessman named Frederick Trent Stanley established a little shop in New Britain, Connecticut to manufacture door bolts and other hardware from wrought iron. Stanley's Bolt Manufactory was only one of dozens of small foundries and other backyard industries in town struggling to make a go of it by turning out metal products. But Stanley possessed a special innovative spirit and an uncommon passion for doing things right and his modest enterprise prospered and grew as The Stanley Works."
  • "In 1857, Frederick's cousin, Henry Stanley, founded The Stanley Rule and Level Company. In 1920, The Rule and Level Company merged with The Stanley Works and would go on to become it's famous Hand Tools Division."
An important information source containing tons of information on Stanley Planes is on the web as: The Superior Works: Patrick's Blood and Gore.

An excellent website on Stanley Rule & Level Co.'s Miller's Patent Plow Planes, full of information and photographs has been created by Don Bosse.

A history of the Stanley Co. and descriptions of their tools has been created by Rose Antique Tools.

The New Britain Industrial Museum has a history of The Stanley Works on their website.

The Stanley Gage Page

Tools of the Stanley Rule & Level Co. in the Museum collection.

Jacob, Walter W. (March 2008). Stanley hand drills -- Part III: Early twenties steel-frame drills. The Chronicle. 61(1). pg. 35-37. IS.