| Leonard Bailey | |
| Birth Date: | May 8, 1825 |
| Birth Place: | Hollis, New Hampshire, United States |
| Death Place: | New York City |
| Occupation: | Toolmaker/cabinet Maker |
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.[1]
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".[2]
Bailey's design ideas are still used by Stanley and other plane manufacturers to this day.