Chuck advice please

[Bill Boehme]

Tim, I have both the Talon and the Stronghold and still use the Talon for 95% of my work. It is a great chuck and I have turned some really large pieces with it. If you know that you won't be turning much larger than a 14" bowl, the Talon will work out great! I do recommend getting the #3 tower jaws to go with it as the regular depth #3 jaws can't handle a deep tenon and with large blanks, it is nice to have a little more to hang onto!

If you have any specific questions on either chuck, please ask!

I am in full agreement. I also have Talon and Stronghold chucks and 95% would describe my use of the Talon. I also have a Vicmarc 120 with 7" jaws that I use to hold really big stuff. My lathe is the Robust AB, but it's what is being turned and not the lathe that determines what size chuck to use. It is advantageous to use the smallest chuck that is big enough for the job. The Talon is more than adequate for a fourteen inch bowl. I have no experience at all with Nova chucks so I can't say which of those to use.

[Justin Stephen]

Thanks again to everyone for their input-----both seem to be quality chucks and have their own advantages. I prefer to hold my bowls using a recess and I assume both will allow me to do this if I have the appropriate jaws----recommendations?

Yup. The Talon comes with "#2" profiled jaws and the SN2 comes with 50mm jaws. Both will work just fine for recesses.

[Peter Blair]

Tim, yew, both chucks will hold in a recess. I like others above have a Stronghold and several Nova's with about 7 jaw sets.
I think this may be one of those 6's things.