Abwood Milling Vise

[junkaddict]

I was going to buy a used Kurt, but ran into this 6" Abwood at an estate sale for $75. Seems well made. Made in England. It does not look abused. Got the knee and table on my mill cleaned up. Getting there slowly.

[Tim Clarke]

Well, that's the first dovetail vise I remember seeing! Nice! Looks like it's been well cared for.

[Tundra Twin Track]

AWESOME SCORE,looks prestine and notched jaws as a BONUS!

[J Tiers]

Nice..... That is stout enough and so low profile, that it almost seems closer to a shaper vise than a mill vise. Just the 2 screw base says "milling" to me.

[Peter N]

I've got a couple of Abwoods for the Bridgeport, though I've gone over to a pair of Gerardis on the CNC.
Good stout Vices (eng. splg.), but one thing to watch out for. If they've been over-tightened, then the casting where the bronze nut sits in the base can crack as it pushes against the casting.
I've had to repair both of mine where they've been abused in the past.
It's worth stripping it back to just to have a look and check it. it is a fairly easy repair though, just mill a section out, make up an insert block to screw in place, then bore it out for the nut to seat back in.

[Peter.]

Good solid vices I use one on my mill, have the rotaating base for it too. Mine is a smaller model with square ways. The Abwood factory is only 6 miles away but they don't make this stuff any more, they specialise in grinding machines for solar panel wafers.

[junkaddict]

I've got a couple of Abwoods for the Bridgeport, though I've gone over to a pair of Gerardis on the CNC.
Good stout Vices (eng. splg.), but one thing to watch out for. If they've been over-tightened, then the casting where the bronze nut sits in the base can crack as it pushes against the casting.
I've had to repair both of mine where they've been abused in the past.
It's worth stripping it back to just to have a look and check it. it is a fairly easy repair though, just mill a section out, make up an insert block to screw in place, then bore it out for the nut to seat back in.

Nice fix, I will check that out on mine.

[old mart]

The toolmakers at my old firm used Abwoods on their Bridgeports, they always gave the work a clout when tightening down.

[junkaddict]

I've got a couple of Abwoods for the Bridgeport, though I've gone over to a pair of Gerardis on the CNC.
Good stout Vices (eng. splg.), but one thing to watch out for. If they've been over-tightened, then the casting where the bronze nut sits in the base can crack as it pushes against the casting.
I've had to repair both of mine where they've been abused in the past.
It's worth stripping it back to just to have a look and check it. it is a fairly easy repair though, just mill a section out, make up an insert block to screw in place, then bore it out for the nut to seat back in.

Took out the nut, and it's all good.

[Paul Alciatore]

It looks like a nice find. And the dovetail design along with the rather long movable jaw suggests that it can be snugged up to prevent or at least minimize the problem of jaw rise. Makes me want to ask if it has any kind of pull down mechanism like the Kurts or is the the dovetail and length of the jaw the extent of their tackling that problem?

I would be curious about any accuracy numbers. Bed flatness, fixed jaw, etc.?

But it is a nice find. And for $75, it definitely rates it so here it comes, YOU SUCK!

[nickel-city-fab]

WOW if I had a vise like that it would be the centerpiece on the dining room table instead of the mill table. Nice score!

[junkaddict]

No pull down mechanism. I'll take some measurements on it when I get a chance.

[redgrouse]

Looks to be in great condition, fairly common in the U.K. and well a thought of tool. As far as lift if you have the dovetail adjusted correctly it will be minimum but depending on the job in hand we would often place a round bar between the work and the movable jaw to reduce the possibility and tap/hammer down the work after nipping it up

[thaiguzzi]

The toolmakers at my old firm used Abwoods on their Bridgeports, they always gave the work a clout when tightening down.

SOP.
Standard Operating Procedure back in the day.
Or even today in my shop.
Abwood = great quality vises.