The Length of Bench Planes
Wooden Bench 6 1/2" - 8"
Jack planes 12" - 17"
Panel Planes 14 1/2"
Trying Planes 20" - 22"
Long Planes 24" - 26"
Jointer Planes 28" - 30"

From: Turning and Mechanical Manipulation, volume 2 Charles Holtzapffel, 1875, reprinted 1994 Astragal Press

Bench planes refer to the set of planes a cabinetmaker used to level a board or to do joinery. Lengths vary and it can be seen that this plane is a long jointer plane. This particular list from 1875 is typical but not absolute. Other contemporary reference show slightly different lengths and a more general set of categories. Metal planes are usually shorter and modern lengths are slightly different. Other trades such as coopers used even longer planes, mounted upside-down where the work was passed over the stationary plane.

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