History

Dating

  one down                   one up

Stanley 11 belt maker's plane

offered 1869- 1943

5 3/4" long with a 2 3/8" cutter

One of the few Stanley planes not intended for woodworkers. This tool was designed to plane leather transmission belts used in early machinery.  This is a single iron plane like the No 9. The adjuster works with a small cap iron  used in low angle planes. Maple handles are the most common though every now and then the odd one shows up with rosewood or beech handles. The handles from the 12 models are not a good replacement because the slots for the screws are a different width.

Stanley 11 Bull Nose Rabbet Plane

Not offered in any American Stanley catalogues

ca 1880

4 7/8" long with a 1 1/4" cutter

I was lucky to inspect the plane on the right during my first David Stanley auction in March 96. It sold for around A$ 10,000 including buyer's premium. Not a plane you'd look at twice but obviously one of the extremely rare Stanley tools. There have been others sold in England, it's generally assumed that these planes were produced for the English market. I know of one example in an Australian collection - the lucky owner found it in a garage sale in Sydney.

 ©David Stanley Auctions March 1996 lot 26 - reproduced with permission from David Stanley

Stanley 11 1/2 floor plane

offered 1909 - 1923

7 1/2" long with a 2 3/8" cutter.

Same as the 11 belt maker's plane but with a longer adjustable front piece.  They are a lot less common than the # 11.

I never understood why this one turned into a floor plane. Stanley already had the No 74 floor plane, a real monster of a tool with a long handle. This scraper type tool would be hard on your hands and knees! With its low angled single iron it seems much more suited for finishing work on furniture. The relatively short production period indicates that it was not a huge success. The version without the adjustable throat sold as belt maker's plane lasted a lot longer.

from Stanley 1911 catalogue No 110