diff --git a/abaqus_reader.jl b/abaqus_reader.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d7463a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/abaqus_reader.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+# This file is a part of JuliaFEM. 
+# License is MIT: https://github.com/ovainola/JuliaFEM/blob/master/README.md
+module abaqus_reader
+
+using Logging
+@Logging.configure(level=DEBUG)
+
+VERSION < v"0.4-" && using Docile
+
+eldims = Dict("C3D10" => 10)
+global handlers = Dict()
+
+"""
+Register new handler for parser
+"""
+function add_handler(section, function_name)
+  handlers[section] = function_name
+end
+
+function create_or_get(model, key)
+    if !(key in keys(model))
+        model[key] = Dict()
+    end
+    return model[key]
+end
+
+function parse_header(header_line)
+    args = map(s -> strip(s), split(header_line, ","))
+    args[1] = strip(args[1], '*')
+    d = Dict({"section" => args[1]})
+    options = Dict()
+    for k in args[2:end]
+        args2 = split(k, "=")
+        options[args2[1]] = args2[2]
+    end
+    d["options"] = options
+    return d
+end
+
+function parse_node_section(model, header, data)
+    nodes = create_or_get(model, "nodes")
+    for line in split(data, "\n")
+        m = matchall(r"[-0-9.]+", line)
+        id = parse(Int, m[1])
+        coords = float(m[2:end])
+        nodes[id] = coords
+    end
+end
+
+function parse_element_section(model, header, data)
+    eltype = header["options"]["TYPE"]
+    if !(eltype in keys(eldims))
+        throw("Element $eltype dimension information missing")
+    end
+    eldim = eldims[eltype]
+    m = matchall(r"[0-9]+", data)
+    m = map(integer, m)
+    elements = create_or_get(model, "elements")
+    m = reshape(m, eldim+1, round(Int, length(m)/(eldim+1)))
+    nel = size(m)[2]
+    Logging.debug("$nel elements found")
+    for i=1:nel
+        elements[m[1,i]] = m[2:end,i]
+    end
+    if "ELSET" in keys(header["options"])
+        elsets = create_or_get(model, "elsets")
+        elset_name = header["options"]["ELSET"]
+        Logging.info("Creating ELSET $elset_name")
+        elsets[elset_name] = Int64[]
+        for i=1:nel
+            push!(elsets[elset_name], m[1,i])
+        end
+    end
+end
+
+
+function parse_nodeset_section(model, header, data)
+    nset_name = header["options"]["NSET"]
+    Logging.debug("Creating node set $nset_name")
+    m = matchall(r"[0-9]+", data)
+    node_ids = map(integer, m)
+    nsets = create_or_get(model, "nsets")
+    nsets[nset_name] = Int64[]
+    for j in node_ids
+        push!(nsets[nset_name], j)
+    end
+end
+
+
+function parse_abaqus(fid)
+    model = Dict()
+    section = None
+    header = None
+    data = ""
+    Logging.info("Registered handlers: $(keys(handlers))")
+
+    function process_section(section)
+        if section == None
+            return
+        end
+        if !(section in keys(handlers))
+            Logging.info("Don't know what to do with data in section $section")
+            Logging.info("Skipping $(length(data)) bytes of unknown data")
+            return
+        end
+        handlers[section](model, header, strip(data))
+        data = ""
+    end
+
+    for line in eachline(fid)
+        if beginswith(line, "**")
+            continue
+        end
+        if beginswith(line, "*")
+            process_section(section)
+            header = parse_header(line)
+            Logging.debug("Found ", header["section"], " section")
+            section = header["section"]
+            continue
+        end
+        data *= line
+    end
+    process_section(section)
+    return model
+end
+
+# add handlers
+add_handler("NODE", parse_node_section)
+add_handler("ELEMENT", parse_element_section)
+add_handler("NSET", parse_nodeset_section)
+
+
+end