Choose a Talon over Stronghold?

[Aaron Buys]

Well I just finished the first half of Bill Grumbine's bowl turning video. (Fantastic instructional DVD!) I need to take the plunge and get myself a chuck so I can start turning some bowls. I've got a General International lathe with a 10" swing so I'm leaning towards the Talon since its smaller and I know it doesn't get in the way as much as the Stronghold. However I'm usually one for buying big and not worrying about "upgrading" later. (Yes I understand that the Stronghold isn't "better" just bigger =) Will I regret it if I go for the Talon to start seeing as how when I upgrade my lathe the Talon won't fit the larger pieces a larger lathe can handle? Or should I just get the Talon and worry about picking up a Stronghold when the time comes? I guess I've answered my own question here but I'd appreciate any input you guys can offer.

[Bill Fleming]

My "new" used lathe has an 18"+ swing so it is the starting point for a Stronghold so that is the way I went because I knew that when and if I upgrade the lathe it will be "up" in size and the Stronghold will go along - in fact just got a second with some jumbo jaws for reversing bowls.

I think you would be happy either way and I have a friend who uses the Stronghold on his mini as well.

My thinking was that I didn't want to have to buy chucks when it came time for a new lathe.

Cheers - Bill

[Bob Hamilton]

I have a 16" lathe and I haven't turned anything the Talon wouldn't hold. I would hazard a guess that by the time you are ready to upgrade to a monster lathe you will find that one chuck isn't enough anyway... :) There is the drawback that the jaws are not interchangeable between the Talon and Stronghold, but I would think that a Talon or even a basic would fill your needs for a long time.

In the event you did feel the need for a larger chuck in the future the Supernova 2 is a fairly massive chuck, and my Talon jaws seem to fit on it fine, although the Nova jaws won't fit on my Oneway chucks. The locating ridge on the back of the Nova jaws is just a whisker too wide to fit into the groove on the Oneway chucks.

Take care
Bob

[Curt Fuller]

Buy the time you decide to upgrade to a bigger lathe you'll probably find yourself in need of at least two chucks. Buy the Talon for the baby General, it will still work on anything you upgrade to.

[Steven Wilson]

I started with the Talon and when I upgraded to a much larger lathe I bought the Stronghold. I still have both and use both (plus others).

[David Wilhelm]

If you want the bigger chuck and the price is part of the factor, Hartville tool has the stronghold on sale for 199.00 and the taper lock is 21.99. Not sure why but i got mine for 189.00. you may get it for the same price. the Talon is around 160. and will do a fine job and you can get #3 jaws for it to give you more gripping surface on the blank you are working with. There are taper locks for different sizes if you upgrade your lathe.