Eclipse by Spear and Jackson

[44767]

The brand name "Eclipse" manufactured by Spear and Jackson was on the box and rather crudely laser-etched onto a pin chuck which I bought a few years ago at an exhibition, from one of the larger model engineering suppliers. I found firstly that a drill would not run truly when held in it. Maybe this should have been the first give-away. Then, without any reason, the shaft snapped off it; through hardened and not tempered? So not a good purchase even at £8.00- that should have been the second red flag. Recently, at an auction of a deceased club member's estate I bought an Eclipse pin chuck, with the name etc. rolled into the body's circumference, which had no collets with it, thinking I would be able to use the ones from the broken one I already had. I found the collets wouldn't fit and even the tightening nut wouldn't fit when tried on the old one. This was the next red flag.

Did I purchase a knock-off from the East or did these two manufacturer's products always have incompatibility issues?

Cheers,Mike

[Jo]

I brought an Eclipse hacksaw frame earlier in the year and holds the hacksaw blades twisted rather than square to the frame (I brought another Facom frame to replace it). I fear Eclipse is another of the ex-British manufacturers that no longer produce quality products.

Jo

[millman]

I have got a couple of genuine Eclipse pin chucks bought when I was an apprentice 50 years ago, Just before Covid I purchased two more from a well known trader secondhand and although they were marked as Eclipse the collets would not run true and the closing cap and collets are not interchangeable with my originals despite being supposedly identical items, needless to say the dodgy ones got binned. It is a sad fact that a well respected brand name of the past is now not worth the paper it is written on. Buying any tooling nowadays is a total lottery.

[SteveW]

I've always considered the "Eclipse" brand to be at the economy end of products and positioned where many of us mortals can purchase.

Generally, they are more than good enough if on occasions a bit disposable.

[treble]

I served my apprenticeship at James Neil ( Eclipse ) in Sheffield , and it pains me to now see the name on products what I consider to be inferior to the original ones that I own from those days , based on experience similar to others . I believe the name is now owned by a Hong Kong consortium who have world wide interests.
PS If I remember correctly , the pin chucks quoted were made on high precision 6 spindle Swiss Auto machines .

[cplmickey]

Slightly different (not Eclipse) but names you can trust are becoming scarce. I bought a JCB hacksaw and it quickly became consigned to the bin. Uncomfortable to use handle shape with a strange bolt-in-plastic tightening device that soon failed to hold the bolt and just became a nuisance. Ian

[abby]

I don't like the JCB socks either , or the Caterpillar boots.
Dan

[92220]

Jul 19, 2023 22:41:49 GMT treble said:

I served my apprenticeship at James Neil ( Eclipse ) in Sheffield , and it pains me to now see the name on products what I consider to be inferior to the original ones that I own from those days , based on experience similar to others . I believe the name is now owned by a Hong Kong consortium who have world wide interests.
PS If I remember correctly , the pin chucks quoted were made on high precision 6 spindle Swiss Auto machines .

Totally agree!!! Eclipse pin chucks, nowadays, are useless as far as concentricity goes. I have 2 sets, bought new, within the last 5 years and all collets run at least 10 thou eccentric!! Absolutely useless!! 

Bob.