# Eclipse Sheffield Steel



## cotedupy (Jun 26, 2020)

I've been cleaning up an old butchers knife in the last couple of days. No markings on the blade, but when I took the scales off and sanded the rust off the (3/4) tang, it turned out to be marked 'Eclipse'.

This seems possibly to be a company founded by James Neil in Sheffield in 1889. There's a bit of information about them on the internet, but nothing regarding production of kitchen or butcher knives. Would anybody know anything about it...?


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## Unstoppabo (Jun 26, 2020)

No clue but that's really cool!


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## TB_London (Jun 27, 2020)

Looks to me like it’s been user made from a large hacksaw blade. Eclipse make a lot of these, and the get repurposed often.
I keep a 6” piece with a chisel grind on the end in my welding jacket for knocking off spatter, works really well


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## Benuser (Jun 27, 2020)

What makes you think it's from Sheffield?


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## cotedupy (Jun 27, 2020)

TB_London said:


> Looks to me like it’s been user made from a large hacksaw blade. Eclipse make a lot of these, and the get repurposed often.
> I keep a 6” piece with a chisel grind on the end in my welding jacket for knocking off spatter, works really well



Ah interesting! Could well be, especially considering the scales and a few other things.


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## cotedupy (Jun 27, 2020)

Benuser said:


> What makes you think it's from Sheffield?



Was only that the company 'Eclipse' was/is a Sheffield steel producer apparently, now re-named Spear & Jackson. Spear & Jackson - Wikipedia

(I also got it alongside an old I Wilson butchers knife. Tho that's possibly just coincidence.)


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## cotedupy (Jun 27, 2020)

This btw is how it came out looking. It's sharpened up really nicely, tho there are a few spots on the blade that will require evening out over time.


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## Shing Chan (Jul 11, 2020)

Eclipse is a well known and prolific maker of tools in Sheffield England. They made everything from hacksaw blades to surface gauges. They were known for the high quality of their tools. It looks like the blade was made from a hacksaw blade made by Eclipse tools.


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## cotedupy (Jul 11, 2020)

Shing Chan said:


> Eclipse is a well known and prolific maker of tools in Sheffield England. They made everything from hacksaw blades to surface gauges. They were known for the high quality of their tools. It looks like the blade was made from a hacksaw blade made by Eclipse tools.



Thank you, yep I couldn't see anything about production of knives. So it looks like you and others are right about it being a repurposed saw blade.

Do you know how Eclipse steel would differ from other Sheffield steels that are for knifemaking? I'm not an expert but on the surface this doesn't behave, look, or feel much different from other actual knives I've seen...


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## Shing Chan (Jul 12, 2020)

cotedupy said:


> Thank you, yep I couldn't see anything about production of knives. So it looks like you and others are right about it being a repurposed saw blade.
> 
> Do you know how Eclipse steel would differ from other Sheffield steels that are for knifemaking? I'm not an expert but on the surface this doesn't behave, look, or feel much different from other actual knives I've seen...


The knife made from Eclipse Tools blade was most likely a power hacksaw blade made from high speed steel intended for metal cutting. Steel used for making knives in Sheffield would be normal carbon steel or stainless steel made in the city, SF77 is a stainless steel made in Sheffield and 1095 is made in Rotherham, a city adjacent to Sheffield. I have to admit I have only used a small amount of Sheffield steel in making my own knives, O1 steel by Saxon. The rest is German, Austrian and American steel. I have been looking for British made steel but its not been successful.


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