Stanley Defiance Planes and Tools

Last Updated: 12/30/23

Wrapping up 2023 I just received the complete listing for all of the Defiance tools Stanley made. This came in the form of an original Stanley Tools Catalog #139 from 1939 and at the very end of it there’s 8 pages of nothing but Defiance tools !!! This is a game changer for this project and I am sure I will have several hours of fun combing through it all and updating the listings on the site and then, oh my… then I get to begin searching for some of these things !!!

Around 1926 Stanley applied the already trademarked “Defiance” name to a series of cheaper hand planes and tools, not to be confused with the previous Defiance line of hand planes. This appealed to hobbyists, homeowners, and farmers that wanted quality without a big price tag. The Defiance line ended around 1960 and was replaced by the infamous Handyman line which is perhaps the lowest quality “vintage” Stanley plane collected on the market today. Don’t get me wrong about that, most if not all, of the tools made for the Defiance and Handyman lines will most definitely make a good user if you take the time to clean, adjust, and sharpen ( when applicable ) them. This holds true for most tools. We all know I’m a big Harbor Fright fan and love my Wen power tools.

Having won their legal fights vs. Leonard Bailey in the late 1800’s, Stanley took it upon themselves to use the already registered “Defiance” name and create a whole new line of tools. Wanting to make the most money they could, they built this line targeting the average Joe. These tools were not made to the standards of the mainline Stanley tools and were meant for the homeowner, farmers, and those wanting a tool with the Stanley name but not the Stanley price tag.

Some key characteristics of the Defiance planes are most notably the poor castings, often times with the seams quite visible as well as mill marks along the outside of the cheeks. The handles were originally rosewood for a while but then became a variety of species stained red to simulate rosewood and in later planes the handles were simply painted black. The sides of the handles are also flat on both sides, sometimes bearing the “DEFIANCE” name stamped into the handle and filled with a gold coloured paint. Moving onto the lever caps, these lacked the simple spring on the underside that comes into contact with the chip breaker and here again, the castings are clearly of a lower quality. There are typically no identifying marks on a Defiance plane except for on the handle and if it hasn’t been replaces, on the cutting iron itself. On some irons the “DEFIANCE” name was stamped as well as the model number of the plane. Generally found behind the front knob the planes all say “MADE IN U.S.A.” and there are various stamps on some of the parts.

I guess that at some point after the launch of the Defiance, Stanley thought it would be a good idea to toss in a curve ball or two. These two curve balls are the 1213 and 1213 1/2 which break all the rules when trying to identify them. These planes both lacked a frog and instead relied on a wedge that appears welded to the body, there is also a cross pin used to help secure the lever cap much like some of the older wooden body planes. The 1213 had no adjustment of any sort except for adjusting the blade by holding it in place and setting the lever cap in place with the assistance of grooves which fit against the cross pin and it could then be tightened down. The 1213 1/2 had a different cutting iron altogether, much more like a gage style iron which connected to an insanely massive depth adjuster knob tapped into the wedge. Both the 1213 and 1213 1/2 are rare and the emphasis goes to the 1213 1/2 being one of the rarest planes outside of the mainline Stanley tools. The 1213 was produced around 1932 through 1942 while the 1213 1/2 was produced two to three years from 1929 through 1930. It should also be noted that the Defiance 1213 1/2 is not listed in Alvin Sellen’s book “The Stanley Plane” ( https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Plane-History-Descriptive-Inventory/dp/0961206802/ )

To complicate identifying the planes even harder, Stanley produced a sub-line of planes from 1949 through 1962 that did away with the frog altogether and the only form of adjustment on them was through the depth adjuster knob. These planes used a pair of pillars on either side of the depth adjust knob, these pillars were angled at the top where the cutting iron rests on. The lever caps were similar to regular Defiance caps except they had a unique inset of cross-hatched lines giving them a nice aesthetic look. As with other Defiance planes, sometimes these featured the name on the flat sided handles as well as the name on the cutting iron and sometimes the model number as well. It could be assumed that these planes, the 1243, 1244, and 1245, were geared towards people who didn’t want or need all of the fiddly adjustments found on a regular plane, this in fact would create more problems because there was no lateral adjustment, no way to advance or retract the frog, and limited to just the depth adjuster knob. These three also offered a lower price tag and could be seen as sort of gateway plane that people could buy, get mad at, toss in a drawer and then purchase a better plane they could actually adjust and use easily.

Existing tools from other Stanley series were added to the mix to confuse people even more because the model number assigned to it, was already in use. Perfect example of this would the be the 1245 block plane. This was originally offered in a set geared towards boys and was the 205. It is one of the oddest and perhaps cheapest of the Stanley block planes sporting a stamped steel construction with the cutting iron set on the front of the palm rest and a single screw to adjust the iron depth. No changes were made to the block plane itself and as hard as it is to find in the wild there probably were not that many made and sold and it could have been an attempt to clear out the warehouse.

Coming back to the “original” planes in the Defiance line there were six planes produced in all and they were numbered with the 12XX for the model numbers. It should be noted that later models had an “H” before the model number designating them as part of the Handyman series. There were four smoothing planes ( 1203, 1203C, 1204, and 1204C ) as well as two jack planes ( 1205 and 1205C ). Additionally there was a number of block planes included in the plane line up with the 1248 being perhaps the most confusing to collect because the model number was used on at least 3 different block planes over a roughly 20 year period. The 1247c can be difficult to identify because it featured a cadmium coating which over time gets worn away, rubs off, or painted over and if it is present you can tell it by the slightly yellow tinge it gives to the metal underneath; otherwise it’s the same as the standard 1247.

For a comprehensive listing of the planes, scroll down a bit more past the pictures, and you will see that I have listed all of them along with their dimensions and other information if possible. The reason for including the measurements is that it can be useful when trying to identify a plane; case in point would be the 1202 if it exists, it has a length of 7.5″ so anything shorter or longer than that does not measure up ( pun intended ). Some planes like the corrugated 1203, 1204, and 1205 had a VERY limited production run of only 1 year in 1933.

What follows after the listing of planes is a collection of links to other pages that contain more of the Defiance tool line. I’ve broken it down as best I could without creating a million links. This collection has definitely been a challenge because just when I think I have seen or resourced everything, something new drops on my desk, quite literally sometimes. I keep the pages updated as I find more information, tools, and details so you can rest assured that so long as I am still alive and breathing the pages will be kept up with. I have set a goal of reaching an 85% to 95% complete collection of the Defiance by Stanley tools and you can view my progress by the green ( owned ) or gold ( on the way/purchased ) highlighting of the tool models, if it’s just plain black text, the hunt continues.

The Defiance non-adjustable hand planes were offered from 1949-1962

NEW PICTURES COMING VERY SOON

With the exception of the 1202 which may or may not exist, I have completed the collection of the Defiance by Stanley hand planes and block planes and started collecting more of the tools as well.

* In the above listing a capital “C” is used to denote a corrugated sole and a lowercase “c” denotes that the plane had a cadmium coating.

Keep scrolling down for tools broken down into sections, fair warning, this rabbit hole goes way way way deep and every time I sit down to do some more research, I find more and more. I know there are some of these tools that were originally only available in a set, so as I learn more about things I will of course update the page here and in their categories as needed.

Click here to see the Tool Sets in the Defiance line
Click here to see the Saws and Saw Sets in the Defiance line
Click here to see the various measuring tools in the Defiance line
Click here to see the Chisel and Chisel Sets in the Defiance line
Click here to see the Levels in the Defiance line
Click here to see the Hammers, Picks, and Axes in the Defiance line
Click here to see the Hand Drills, Braces, and Breast Drills in the Defiance line
Click here to see the Vises and Wedges in the Defiance line
Click here to see the Screwdrivers in the Defiance line
Click here to see the Pliers available in the Defiance Line
Click here to see the Misc. Tools in the Defiance line that I haven't categorized yet
Click here to see the Additional Research for the Defiance line
Stanley Defiance Vintage Ads and Catalogs
Stanley Defiance In Search Of

Just for a little help in clarifying the differences between the original Defiance line, the planes typically had a look and style all their own along with a hefty price tag these days. The irons are generally stamped BAILEY TOOL CO. and have a battle axe logo and the pricier ones are the Woonsockets from what I’ve seen. Recently there was a No. 3 going for over $1300.00.

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