Leonard Bailey (inventor)

{{Short description|American inventor (1825–1905)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Leonard Bailey

| birth_date = May 8, 1825

| birth_place = Hollis, New Hampshire, United States

| death_date = {{death date and age|1905|02|05|1825|05|08}}

| death_place = New York City

| occupation = Toolmaker/cabinet Maker

}}

File:Hardware merchandising January-March 1916 (1916) (14578604637).jpg

Leonard Bailey (May 8, 1825 in Hollis, New Hampshire – February 5, 1905 in New York City) was a toolmaker and 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.[http://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/leonard-bailey "Inventor of the Week" archive: Leonard Bailey]

Commonly known as Stanley Bailey planes, these planes were prized by woodworkers of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, and remain popular among today's wood craftspeople. A type study of his patented planes and the rest of the Stanley line may be found at Patrick Leach's "Blood and Gore".Patrick Leach's [http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan0a.html Blood and Gore]

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