Woden 189B/2 vice

I had bought this from gumtree a month ago, finally got here from Sydney (1400 km away for the non OZ type amongst us).

It seems to work despite the current rust. A short term project. There seems to be a reasonable amount of paint on it, so I'll give it an initial/prelim clean up before deciding wether to hot tank it or go the electrolysis route.

I hit it briefly with a grinder wire brush, and the screw thread is not too bad. The rails are fairly pitted, but there is surface to be had.

I have a very nice Woden W4 and a good A78 to keep it company.

I love the "artwork" on the face of those Woden woodworkers vices.

Woden made good quality vices. I hope the rust doesn't prevent this one from giving you good service.

I've not found one near enough or a reasonable price (yet) so I'm having to make-do with a Record vice (or two) :q.

Cheers, Vann.

I rigged up my first derusting tank the other day, and attacked the Woden vise parts.

The rust all came off, and even the screw looks not three bad. I gave the larger bits to a mate, to run through his large ultrasonic cleaner. I wanted to get any residuals out of the surface pits.
Got the screw back tonight. Looking good.

Coming up nicely. How's the half nut?

What width of jaws and opening does that model have please?

Cheers, Vann.

The Woden 189B/2 has 9 inch jaw width, 13 inch opening, and weighs c 35 pound. It is the middle of the three sizes.

The 189B has quick release
The 189 has 'Ideal Quick Action'
THe 189A 'plain screw' is the same as the 189B but without quick release

I attached a 1957 catalogue page for the 189B vices
Attachment 479619


There is a Floor Vice listed that looks like it might have some heft , that people might be amused by. I attach an image:

Attachment 479618

There is a free downloadable version of Woden Tools Catalogue No. 57 from 1957 available at this URL:
Woden Tools : Catalogue No. 57 : Woden Tools Ltd. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

The half nut and end gibbet appear to be bronze, yahoo.
Forgot to give these to mate to run through the ultrasonic cleaner, so have yet to fully clean them. Can't tell the condition yet.


Attachment 479623

Attachment 479624

I was checking out Woden vice pics on the web the other night, and I came across this one. What is interesting is the threads on the guide rails. I have never seen that before, I understood that the guide bars were press fitted (which always seemed a bit unlikely given the body is cast) or peened in. Hence the comments I have always seen were along the lines of 'don't even think about trying to get the guide rails out'.

Intriguing possibilities. If anybody has thought/info on this I for one, would be very interested to hear it.

this is a Woden 189B/1 (7') currently on fleabby
Attachment 479626

Got the main casting back today, after it had been through the ultrasonic cleaner. Given a coat of Ballistol. Looks quite good I think.

Attachment 479763
Attachment 479764

The guide rails seem very reasonable, pitted to be sure, but plenty of full OD bearing surface.
Attachment 479765

Have given the bronze/brass bits a bit of a clean, and filed the bits of casting flash and some of the surface irregularities.

Attachment 479766

The half nut fit to the screw seems really good. The end float can't be felt, I'll try a dial gauge to see what that tells. It might be a natural consequence of the engagement of the half nut on the shaft, as it wears, the nut just sinks deeper maybe, so endways slop doesn't eventuate - just speculating.

Attachment 479767

The main (rear) body did'nt go to the ultrasonic cleaner, as while US itself won't necessarily lift off paint, the mates one runs a mild caustic solution which does. And there was a fair amount of original paint still on the rear casting, as the pics show. So I am reluctant to re-paint it at this stage.

Attachment 479983

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For the record you can run almost anything as the bath. solution in an ultrasonic cleaner. It is always preferable to double bath, to protect the stainless tank, i.e put more drastic solutions (e.g. conc. Sulphuric should one be so inclined) in a glass beaker for example. Also to protect the tank itself from abrasion by vibrating bits. Someone I lent my tank to years ago, buggered it by not following that particular direction - they managed to create pin holes in the tank (and no it wasn't a cheapie, it was laboratory kit). Suspension in a wire basket works well. I have never used plastic as I have always assumed it would dampen the sound wave transmission.


I trial fitted the front to the back casting, and there was surprising little slop in the bushings. At full extension wiggling the front up and down, only felt like 2-3mm or so. Difficult to measure without the back end securely held down, and highly subjective, but I have encountered far worse.

Attachment 479985

Now is that a gorgeous casting or what?
Attachment 479987

Attachment 479986


The presumptively bronze half nut assembly:

Attachment 479988

disengaged it drops away from the screw
Attachment 479989

engaged by default, via the spring attached to the front casting. I have yet to fit the spring to the castellated nut to give appropriate engagement pressure.

Attachment 479990

Attachment 479991




Lifting the font lever (anti-clockwise: squeeze towards the main shaft), rotates the flat bar, which itself fits into an angled notch in the downward projection on the underside of the half nut, and lowers the half nut away from engagement with the shaft thread. Need to find a shorter 1/4 BSW bolt, and get rid of the packing washers.

Attachment 479996

Thanks for the writeup mate. Ive just bought a 189b/3 from FB Marketplace for $50. Seems in pretty good nick, but does need some light resto work. This post has been really informative. Thanks!