STANLEY goes back to 1843, when Frederick T. Stanley opened a bolt and door hardware shop in New Britain, Connecticut. The brand has been part of Stanley Black & Decker since the 2010 merger with Black & Decker, and the parent group reported 15.4 billion dollars of revenue in 2024. Its calling cards are ordinary things done for decades: the PowerLock tape measure from 1963, Bailey bench planes, the 99E folding knife, the yellow FatMax line for tradespeople.
Warranty is the practical argument here. Mechanics tools carry a full lifetime warranty, hand tools and tape measures limited lifetime, while electronics such as stud finders and lasers get one or two years. Availability is the other one: Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace and Amazon all stock it, so a replacement is rarely more than a short drive away. Anyone chasing collector-grade planes should look at specialist makers.
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