How To Date A Record Plane

There are a number of key markers that help us to date a Record plane. This section talks you through some easy ways to identify the date. This page is dedicated to discussing general ways of aging a group of planes. Any individual tool date identifying points will be discussed on its respective tool page.

The Type Of Record Plane Box

There has been a variety of different boxes used since the company first started producing planes. Providing the plane inside the box is housed in its original setting then the box can be used to help date the plane:


Type of Box: A Record wooden box with a sliding lid.
Date: 1930's - 1940's




Type of Box: A Record blue cardboard box.
Date: 1930's - 1960's




Type of Box: A Record straw coloured cardboard box with a blue and yellow label.
Date: 1960's - 1970's
Type of Box: A Record straw coloured cardboard box with a white label.
Date: 1970's




Type of Box: A Record blue and white cardboard box.
Date: 1970's - 1980's




Type of Box: A plain brown cardboard box with white label.
Date: 1990's




There are a few exceptions, the Record 405 and the Record CS88 Calvert Stevens Plane had their own unique boxes:

Type of Box: Calvert Steven CS88 box.
Date: 1988 - 1990




Type of Box: Record 405 box.
Date: 1933 - 1982






There are many user-made boxes which are usually easily spotted by the lack of any Record marks or labels and often by the crudeness of their construction, the finish or the materials used:

Type of Box: User made examples




Type of Box: Record 073 box?
We think this is a user made box which a user has stuck the 073 label on:


If anyone has seen any documentation of this box being a genuine Record box or if you own a box like this, I would love to hear from you.

The Type Of Trade Label

Label Wording: Genuine Record Made In England Trade Mark
Label Appearance: Blue background with gold border and gold letters.
When This Appeared: This was the first trade label to appear on Record tools, appearing on tools from the 1930's - 1957.




Label Wording: Genuine Record Made In England
Label Appearance: Blue background with gold border and gold letters.
When This Appeared: This was the second trade label to appear on Record tools, appearing on tools from the mid-to-late 1950's to the early 1960's.




Label Wording: Genuine Record Made In England
Label Appearance: Transparent background with gold border and gold letters. Record is in transparent lettering with a gold surrounding rectangle with rounded corners.
When This Appeared: This was the third trade label to appear on Record tools, appearing on tools through the 1960's and 1970's.




Label Wording: Genuine Record Made In England
Label Appearance: Blue background with gold border and gold letters. Record is in blue lettering with a gold surrounding rectangle with rounded corners.
When This Appeared: This was the forth and final trade label to appear on Record tools, appearing on tools from the 1980's onwards.



A trade mark label which is present on a tool is a very good means of roughly dating a tool. It would be very difficult, if not impossible for one of these trademark labels to moved from one tool to another after the amount of years they have been stuck to a tool.

Paint Colour

From our observations, it appears that the paint colour on the bench planes started off originally as a dark blue on pre World War II planes and then after the second World War they were a very slightly lighter shade of blue. This colour remained until the dramatic change to the shade of blue on the very recent 04, 05 and 07 planes:



For the majority of Record bench planes the colour is far from an accurate way of dating a plane other than the recent 04, 05 and 07 planes. If you are looking for an early plane then the colour can help catch your eye for a closer inspection. Other factors to keep an eye out for when assessing the colour of a plane are: the plane could have been resprayed / painted during its life or the plane could have attracted a lot of dirt and grime.

The Type Of Plane Handle and Knob

Original Rosewood handles and knobs are a good indication the plane dates from 1933 - 1949 with the exception of the Record 405 multi planes which were made with Rosewood until the 1960's. Rosewood handles were still advertised on their 'adjustable iron planes' in the 1949 Record book.



Dark stained selected hardwoods were used during the rest of the years Record planes were manufactured up until the last year or two before the millennium.



Plastic handles were fitted to bench planes from the very last year or possibly two of the 20th century. The only Record bench planes being produced at this time were: Record 04, 05 and 07 planes.


Obviously plane handles and knobs can easily be changed, so identifying the type of handle and knob is not a reliable method of dating the age of the plane. It can however act as a good clue.

The Type Of Plane Frog

Frog: Type 1
Date: 1931 - 1959
The first type of frog had a predominantly flat front surface area. This type of frog is shown in the documentation I have seen up until a new frog is shown in 1960.

Record Shoulder Plane Marks

Planes: 041, 042, 071, 072, 073, 074
Markings: "British Mark"
Markings Appearance: The words "British Mark" are printed in relief over a rectangle with rounded corners.
Markings Location: This marking is found on the right hand side of the plane near the front end.
Date: 1930's



Planes: 041, 042, 071, 072, 073, 074
Markings: "Made In England"
Markings Appearance: The words "Made In England" are printed in relief over a rectangle with rounded corners.
Markings Location: This marking is found on the right hand side of the plane near the front end.
Date: 1940's onwards (until production stopped for each respective plane)

Record Bullnose Plane Marks

Planes: 076, 077, 077A
Markings: "Record British"
Markings Appearance: The words "Record British" are printed in relief through a blue oval background.
Markings Location: This marking is found on the top of the lever cap.
Date: 1930's



Planes: 076, 077, 077A
Markings: "Record"
Markings Appearance: The word "Record" is printed in relief over a rectangle.
Markings Location: This marking is found on the top of the lever cap.
Date (077): - 1943
Date (076, 077A): 1940's - 1980's



Planes: 077A
Markings: None
Markings Location: There are no markings on the lever cap.
Date: 1990 - 1994

Further Information

For more information on dating Record planes, see the Record Hand Planes website.