Eclipse No. 55 Sheet Saw - Uses Standard 12" hacksaw blade - Mid 1950's

Eclipse No. 55 Sheet Saw - Uses Standard 12" hacksaw blade - Mid 1950's

Well preserved, pre-owned with light to moderate wear; Eclipse No. 55 Hacksaw.

The idea was that a hacksaw blade could be used as the toothy part of this general purpose handsaw (like a tenon saw - for deep cuts). The hacksaw blade was mounted between the two pins on the springy backing plate by bending the plate, putting the hacksaw blade over the projecting pins and then releasing the curved backing. With this arrangement it is crucial that the distance between the pins and between the holes in the blade is just right so that the backing plate returns to straight, and simultaneously puts enough tension on the hacksaw blade to keep it straight and aligned with the backing. Hence the instruction "use only Eclipse blades".

The handle is most probably die cast aluminium or some soft silvery metal alloy (probably not pure zinc), usually painted with a medium grey enamel (Eclipse grey).

In this way, the theory was that the user could have a variety of blade pitches in one handsaw, and when resharpening was necessary it was simply a matter of putting in a new hacksaw blade.--Source: http://www.woodworkforums.com/f163/eclipse-no55-127327