Overview
The Stanley No. 4 is the standard smoothing plane, and it was the best-selling bench plane Stanley ever made. When most woodworkers picture a hand plane, this is the one they have in mind. At 9 inches long with a 2-inch cutter, it is short enough to follow the contours of a board but long enough to leave the surface clean and flat.
Gallery
Click any photo to view it larger. Photographs courtesy of Jim Bode Tools.
Specifications & Variants
The #4 base size and its factory variants, with the sole length, cutter width, weight, and years of production for each.
The standard cast-iron version that the variants below are based on.
Lengthwise grooves milled into the sole, meant to cut down on suction and friction when planing wide boards. How much they actually help is debated, but corrugated examples still carry a small premium.
Worth a modest premium. Watch out for fraudulent machined ‘dados’ passed off as factory corrugations.
Aluminum bed and frog, about 40% lighter than the iron #4. The aluminum oxide discolored freshly planed wood, and it cost more than the standard plane, so it sold poorly and was dropped after about a decade.
More of a collector curiosity than a working plane. It is scarce precisely because it failed in the market.
A U-shaped body of pressed and forged steel with riveted mouth pieces, sold to shops with concrete floors where a dropped cast-iron plane would shatter. It looks a lot like a Bed Rock.
Uncommon and increasingly collected. It works fine as long as the mouth pieces are still tight.
Dimensions are nominal factory figures; casting tolerances vary slightly across types.
Identifying Features
- Number marking: A cast “4” appears at the toe from Type 5 (1885) onward. Earlier examples carry no number.
- Iron width: The 2-inch cutter is the most common width Stanley made, the same iron used on the No. 5 jack.
- Knob oiler: A few early examples have a small oiler hole beneath the front knob.
Dating is shared across all sizes. Use the identification guide and the quick-reference table to pin down your plane's type.
History & Design
History
Stanley first cataloged the No. 4 in 1869 and kept it in production until 1984, the longest run of any Stanley bench plane. It sold in such large numbers over that century that collectors took to calling it the fortune-maker.
Because it spans every manufacturing type, you can find a No. 4 in almost any configuration the type study covers. A few early examples even have a small oiler tucked beneath the front knob, a detail collectors prize.
Design
At 9 inches, the sole is the default smoother. It is long enough to register across most board widths and still light enough to work with for a long stretch. The 2-inch iron is the most common width Stanley made, so replacement irons and cap irons are easy to find.
The frog, lateral lever, and markings changed over the years exactly as the Bailey type study describes, so you date a No. 4 by the same features as any other Bailey bench plane.
For Collectors
The No. 4 is common in every type, so its value comes down to condition and type rather than scarcity. Clean, complete examples from the desirable early and Sweetheart years bring the most, while well-worn user planes stay inexpensive and easy to find.
As a User Plane
As a working plane, the No. 4 pairs naturally with a No. 5 jack for stock preparation and a No. 7 jointer for flattening. Together those three make up the classic bench set.
Market Value
Based on 78 realized sales of the #4 (plus corrugated examples). Prices range from $69 to $365, with a median of $120.
| Condition / grade | Typical range |
|---|---|
| User grade | $69 – $95 |
| Good / Fine | $95 – $150 |
| Fine & better | $150 – $365 |
It is by far the most common bench plane, so the steady supply keeps user-grade prices low, while fine early types still fetch a premium.
These are past sale prices gathered from Jim Bode Tools, not a current appraisal. What any given plane is worth depends mostly on its condition and type.
Sources & Credits
Patrick's Blood & Gore
Primary reference for plane history, dimensions, and collector notes.
supertool.com/StanleyBG