For over 150 years Stanley made some of the best and as a result, most popular tools in the US. The Bailey design, still used by manufacturers today, started simple and over the years developed into a veritable masterpiece of "plane design" becoming Stanley's bread and butter during good times and bad. The Bedrock, claimed by some to be the best design ever for a bench plane, was never quite as financially successful for Stanley as the Bailey line with less than robust sale