Oneway Stronghold VS Nova Titan VS ??

[Paul39]

I have a 20 inch swing Woodfast and make big bowls.

I have the original Oneway with # 2 and # 3 jaws and other than the inconvenience of the tommy bar system like it.

I think a Oneway Stronghold and # 3 jaws would serve my purposes well. I have looked for a used one but I think turners have them put in the coffin with them when they leave this earth. This would cost $270 from Oneway plus shipping.

My local dealer does not have Oneway and suggested Nova Titan.

The Vicmark 120 would be the one I would use if I went that direction.

A demonstrator at a recent wood show liked Vicmark best with Oneway second.

I do not see me making more than one bowl a day, average output.

I'd like to hear some likes and dislikes from people who actually use the chucks, and how durable they are over long term use.

Thanks,

[hughie]

Paul, My 10cents worth :)

I have all SN2 chucks three of which are the old 125mm or 5" chucks that seem to be a forerunner of the Titan and the specs are indentical. They use the Allen wrench set up as opposed to the Tommy bar.

I personally do not like the Tommy bar as it is for basically a three handed chuck :~. I think the only significant difference Nova might have is the inter-changability of its jaws across the range of chucks. Although I have 5 chucks and seldom if ever change jaws.:U

As to Oneway and Vicmarc both reputable and well made chucks:2tsup:, it may well get down to personal preference, although my dislike to Tommy bars would exclude any brand in my book.

Points for Vicmarc are that it tightens in the same direction as other standard chucks [ I think from memory ] as opposed to Novas that do so in reverse, of which I found to be a pain in the beginning. :~ Not so familar with Oneway, if they make a Allen wrench set up it would well worth looking at.

I only went with Novas in the beginning because of a great sale price on my first couple :U and it seemed pointless to have different types with no commonality of parts etc.

Lately there's been negative feed back as Teknatool set up their factory in China over quality control issues. I dont know where they are at with this at this point in time. All mine were made in NZ so there was never an issue with that aspect. All in all I am happy with what I have and they perform well and have done so for over 5 years.

My style of turning resembles a "Bull at a gate" I dont like light fiddly cuts when roughing out. So I give my chucks, lathe etc a work out when roughing out bowls etc.

[Jim Carroll]

Vicmarc for me

Not able to give a response on the oneway as it is not available here in Aus

[Paul39]

Hughie,

Thank you, good information. My style of roughing is the same as yours.

The Nova dealer is two miles across town, so if I have a problem it is easy to slide the chuck across the counter and have a little chat.

[bobsreturn2003]

tommy bar chucks are a pain:C got the big vicmark and very impressed with the grip . leaves the novas well behind. :oo:came with a lathe and would recomend it if you have a spindle lock , cheers Bob

[steck]

I have a Vicmarc 120 which is a superb piece of engineering. It's smooth and strong. I am so glad I bought it.

[Big Shed]

plus 1 for the Vicmarc 120:2tsup::2tsup:

Superb bit of kit.

[cookie48]

Nova made in China????? I was considering a Nova1624-44 latha along with their chucks. Seeing what is here, am I going the wrong way???????????????????????

[Paul39]

Cookie48,

It depends. A lot of the cheap Chinese stuff depends on the consumer to do the quality control.

The Chinese make good things at roughly the same price as other maker's good things. Every manufacturer, no matter how good the reputation will make a lemon once in a while. How the manufacturer and dealer take care of such situations is what makes or breaks a company. Rolls Royce VS East German Trabant.

BMW had an adventure with aluminum engine blocks (burn oil like crazy at 50 - 60,000 miles) that cost them a lot of money and left a bad taste in the mouth of BMW owners.

If you are within reasonable driving distance of where you buy your lathe, have it set up and run in the store to see if there are any obvious defects, and get an over the counter exchange if something breaks, you would be OK.

If you are out in the bush, have it shipped to you at some expense, have a problem and have to argue about was it a malfunction of the machine or was it the operator, then have to ship it back at your expense, not so good.

As I live fairly far down on the food chain and am mechanically adept, I tend to buy ugly, rusty, sometimes not working stuff, as is where is, for little money and make it work.

I also buy good stuff at !/3 the going price if offered.

[Paul39]

Cookie48,

I did some looking and found the below. It does not state where the lathe is made. You can put almost any chuck on the lathe, as the makers provide inserts for almost all spindle threads.

Review: Nova 1624-44 Lathe Review - by dmann @ LumberJocks.com ~ woodworking community (http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/633)

http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/nova-1624-44-lathe-41236/

Sounds like a good lathe. I did find some squalks about the chucks in 2008, but that has had time to be corrected.

[Richard Hodsdon]

I have both the Oneway Stronghold and the Talon. Have been using them for 10 years now and wouldn't swop. The screw chuck with both chucks is phenomenal and I will swing a 500mm diam bowl /platter without any problems in my bowl lathe for roughing out.( it doesn't have a tailstock so the blank is held on by the screw only) I normally use 1 or 2 6mm plywood spacers on the screw chuck to prevent it biting in too deep. There are a couple of Nova chucks in the club and I find they are not as good/easy to use when compared to the Oneway chuck keys.
The Nova screw chuck just doesn't have the holding power of the Oneway.
Regarding service I live in South Africa and the only things I have needed are additional adapters and it takes 8 days from the telephone call to Canada till I get it in my sweaty paw the other side of the world. For you in NC it would be 24/48 hrs. and best of all it is not made in China.
I would go Oneway purely because of the Screw Chuck.:U
I also have a Nova 1624 made in China and am very happy with it.

[Ozkaban]

+1 for vicmarc...

I recently bought the Vicmarc VM120 with shark jaws. While I can't comment on longevity, the thing is a beast, holds very well and is beautifully made.

No idea about the oneway, but if it's in the same ballpark for engineering I suspect you couldn't go really wrong either way. Oh, and my other chuck is a tommy bar affair (an old nova chuck), and while I don't really like the tommy bars, I'm not set against them.

Cheers,
Dave

[HSS]

I've got a new (4 month old) Vicmarc 120. It's well built and strong. I just need a few more so I'm not having to change jaws all the time (I've snapped the plastic handle on the allen key that's used to change the jaws, through over use). I used to have a Teknatool at my old work but I always found myself reaching for the old tommy bar vicmarc they had over the new teknatool due to built quality.

[Pat]

I have 4 SN2's, 2 Kiwi made and 2 Chinese, unfortunately you can tell the slight lessening of build quality. I also have a Kiwi made Titan and a G3. I like the ability to swap jaws across the entire range, but usually leave the same jaws on a particular chuck, ie the 50mm on the little G3 thru to the Powergrip jaws on the Titan.

I have used Vicmarcs, the club I belong to has a 140mm version, a serious bit of gear. Maybe one day if the Turning Dog is happy with me I might get the biggest Vic for bigger bowls, but I comfortably turn 500 - 600mm platters with the Titan.

[issatree]

Hi All,
As Stated on here recently, I have 4 Black, Tommy Bar Nova Chucks.
Could not be Happier.
I know of the Complaints, but you have to know how to use them.

Chuck those 2 Tommy Bars to the Shizzen house. Go to the local Sun. Market, buy 2 Good Stanley Screwdrivers, cut & make 1 long & the other a bit shorter.
You must sq. the ends on the Grinder.
Take a punt & drill 2 extra holes in the Main Body piece of the Chuck, that is the 1 with only 2 Holes. The other has 3 Holes.

You always needed to take the New Chuck apart to clean out the Grease & run Every Part over a Wire Wheel attached to the Grinder, & as you put it back together, whack some Graphite Powder in it, & you have 1 of the Best & Cheapest Chucks going.

I use the Headstock Lock, & the Short S/D, lays up against the Lathe Bed, & you really pull on the Longer S/D.
A lot of the time I only use the 1 S/D & the Headstock Lock, & have never broken the H/S Lock Pin.

[Grumpy John]

...............................................

Take a punt & drill 2 extra holes in the Main Body piece of the Chuck, that is the 1 with only 2 Holes. The other has 3 Holes.

You always needed to take the New Chuck apart to clean out the Grease & run Every Part over a Wire Wheel attached to the Grinder, & as you put it back together, whack some Graphite Powder in it, & you have 1 of the Best & Cheapest Chucks going.

..................................................


1. Drilling holes in the body will do wonders for the warranty :oo:.

2. Why would you need to pull apart, clean out and rework a brand new chuck???????? This also could cause problems if you needed to make a warranty claim.

Sorry Issa I don't understand your thinking on this one :?.


P.S. Vicmark gets my vote every time :2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:.

[Paul39]

1. Drilling holes in the body will do wonders for the warranty :oo:.

2. Why would you need to pull apart, clean out and rework a brand new chuck???????? This also could cause problems if you needed to make a warranty claim.

Quite a bit of Chinese stuff that comes to this side of the pond is machined, assembled, and shipped. The more you pay the better finish and cleaning you get.

The worst examples I have seen are the cheap drill press vises with X - Y movements.

The taking apart, cleaning, and deburring gets rid of the casting sand and metal chips left in the machinery, and removes the razor sharp edges that will cut you to ribbons.

It would probably be good to wait a few weeks before drilling a chuck to see if you would need to use the warranty.

[issatree]

Hi All, & Grumpy,
Grumpy, Paul just about said it all, bar a few bits.
I only ever bought 1 New Nova Chuck, & after a while I bored the extra holes in the Body, therefore I now have 4 holes to chose from & also reduces the problem of elongated ( Oval ) Holes. My other 3 have all been 2nd.hand.
The last 1, I bought from these Forums, for $120 Posted, was almost Brand New, & I new it would be full of Grease + small particles of steel.
I have seen those E/Holes on a couple of Chucks mainly because, they have been abused.
As for pulling the Chuck apart, & as Paul pointed out, the cheaper Chucks don't get the finish the $300+ Chucks do.
I'm all for saving a few $$$, & keeping my hand in Cleaning The Fastest Chuck Made.
Just give 1 of the Holes a Flick with your Finger & it Opens in a Flash. & you don't have to go looking for that T thingy in all the Shavings.
I use those very Strong Magnets, so most of my Lathe Pieces are attached to the Magnets. I suppose you could attach that T thingy as well.

[Grumpy John]

Hi All, & Grumpy,
Grumpy, Paul just about said it all, bar a few bits.
I only ever bought 1 New Nova Chuck, & after a while I bored the extra holes in the Body, therefore I now have 4 holes to chose from & also reduces the problem of elongated ( Oval ) Holes. My other 3 have all been 2nd.hand.
The last 1, I bought from these Forums, for $120 Posted, was almost Brand New, & I new it would be full of Grease + small particles of steel.
I have seen those E/Holes on a couple of Chucks mainly because, they have been abused.
As for pulling the Chuck apart, & as Paul pointed out, the cheaper Chucks don't get the finish the $300+ Chucks do.
I'm all for saving a few $$$, & keeping my hand in Cleaning The Fastest Chuck Made.
Just give 1 of the Holes a Flick with your Finger & it Opens in a Flash. & you don't have to go looking for that T thingy in all the Shavings.
I use those very Strong Magnets, so most of my Lathe Pieces are attached to the Magnets. I suppose you could attach that T thingy as well.

I don't think Nova would appreciate you calling their chucks cheap. :D

[jefferson]

I don't think Nova would appreciate you calling their chucks cheap. :D

Well, GJ, he could have said a lot worse..... :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[issatree]

Hi All Again,
Well Grumpy, they were Cheaper than the other Chucks.
If Memory serves Me, that New Chuck I bought all those years ago was $230, & the other 3 were approx. 1/2 of that. 1 was $120, 1 was $100, & the other was $90.
Mine are all in Excellent Condition.
Just because I paid a lot less for them, certainly doesn't make them a Cheap Chuck.
I'm just a good Scrounger?.

[rsser]

Returning to the OP, Nova Titans are no longer made AFAIK, though last time I looked Gary Pye had stock of the bare item. Pity, cos with the Titan specific Powergrip jaws, it made a formidable kit.

+1 to VM 120 or 150. Or look at Vermec here.

None of those will let you down after you recover from lifting one out of your mailbox.

But frankly, given the exchange rate, I can't see why you would look beyond Oneway.

[Paul39]

But frankly, given the exchange rate, I can't see why you would look beyond Oneway.

Bare Oneway Stronghold with 1 1/4 X 8 adapter $214.95, #4 jaws - grab 5 3/4, expand into 6 1/2, $58.95. The 20 inch swing Woodfast is for big bowls, as would be the chuck.

Hard to beat, I have an original Oneway chuck and the Oneway live center set. The build quality, finish, and operation is superb.

I have $200 in my crazy money fund, so it won't be long.

My local dealer says the "new" Nova Titan chuck will be coming in a month or so.

I'll have a look, but it would be hard to beat the Stronghold.

Thanks to all for your advice.

[rsser]

Oh well, the new Titan sounds v. like the old. Hope the quality is still there:

NOVA TITAN CHUCK (http://www.teknatool.com/products/Chucks/Titan/titan_chuck.htm)

[NeilS]

Having lots of Nova and Vicmarc chucks I have some opinions on those.

Regularly swapping between those two brands (have most models and styles) I can't say I find much difference in their quality, but none of my Novas are made in China so that might account for my satisfaction with them.

I don't regret buying any of my Nova or Vicmarc chucks. I use them all regularly and have had no trouble with any of them.

Nova was the only real choice available when I bought my first woodturning scroll chuck many years ago. I'm still regularly using that little chuck and expect it will soldier on for a couple of more decades... I'll probably give up the game before it does....:U

I have avoided the Novas since they have been made in China but note that the complaints seem to have subsided over the last year, so maybe those concerns have been addressed. In my opinion the problem wasn't because they were being made in China, per se, but a failure on Teknatool's part to specify and communicate their build quality and QA requirements.

If I was starting again now I would probably settle on the Vicmarcs because of the larger jaw sizes which now go up to Dovetail 223mm (http://www.vicmarc.com/default.asp?contentID=710) ( 8 3/4"). The largest jaw size in Nova is still their 130mm jaws (http://www.teknatool.com/products/chuck_accessories/130mm.htm) (5"). I never understood why Teknatool didn't bring out some larger jaw sizes when they released their Titan chuck.

Paul - if you are looking for some larger jaws than those available for the Stronghold or the Titan then the Vicmarc 120 chuck is worth a look. If I was going to be swinging a 20"/70lb blank on my lathe I think I would want a more robust chuck than what I can see of the Stronghold (just looking at it online). I expect you will find the Titan or VM120 chucks (both 5" diam ) will be far more substantial than the 4 1/2" Stronghold. Both the Titan and VM120 are hefty bits of gear that won't blink at anything you hang off them.

[rsser]

A big plus with the Titan is backward compatibility with other T/Tool jaws. But it sounds like you don't need that. Big minus is T/Tool like to round over the edges of their jaws (leastways last time I looked/bought).

Another plus is that for a 5" jaw, acc. to Jim it's fairly light in weight so good for swivel head lathes if you have to run a spindle thread adaptor or extension.

With the Titan Powergrips I've started with 2' blanks and not had a concern.

But if I were doing big platters that had to be thin, the big VM120 jaws that Neil mentioned would be good to have.

.... from the Vic alps, where the weather is far too good. Soon we'll be touring backcountry in shorts and carrying our skis :(

[Paul39]

I have been tucking away some crazy money. My in town dealer had the smaller Nova chucks, but would not stock the big one. I looked at the smaller one, all coverd in grease and marked Made In China. The US has a pretty big inbalance of trade with China.

I have an original Oneway and there is a dealer 90 miles East on the way to my daughter and family in Raleigh. The dealer prices the stuff the same as the factory, for the Stronghold chuck, the factory ships free.

On my way back today I stopped at the Oneway dealer and selected the Stronghold, a 1 1/4 X 8 TPI adapter, and #3 jaws. I told them If they would eat the tax (6.75 %) I would buy the set. They did, and I got it for $268. I grinned all the way home.

I like Oneway stuff, and I'm glad to help manufacturing on this side of the pond.

If cost were not a factor I would go with the Vicmarc 120.

[hughie]

All things considered Paul I would have bought a Oneway as well.

I have earlier SN2's 5" dia, the newer smaller dia are OK and now they intend to bring out the larger version again.

What I find a bit disconcerting with Teknatool is they chop and change on the larger size Chucks as if they have no clear idea of direction. They keep reintroducing the large chuck and then pull it off the market sometime later :? Bring the darn thing back later with a different name. Not exactly confidence building stuff me thinks.

Having said that the 5 SN2 I have perform well and I have no complaints, other than a slight personal mod to the jaws on one chuck to remove a large radius on the outer edge of the jaws.

[Paul39]

I took time over the week end to mount the Stronghold on the Woodfast.

I cleaned the mating surfaces of the chuck and spindle, cleaned and oiled the threads, cleaned the tapers of the insert and the chuck and carefully assembled the chuck and insert. I mounted the chuck on the lathe and put an indicator on it and got 1 mm run out on the chuck body. I took it off and tweaked the two screws holding the adapter on the chuck and remounted. again 1 mm run out. That is OK for wood working, but this is a new chuck.

I removed the chuck again and took off the adapter. I lightly oiled and wiped clean the surfaces on the male and female tapers and assembled them, put it on the lathe and checked the run out, .015 mm run out. I took the chuck off and securely tightened the two adapter mounting screws, remounted and checked again, .015 mm (.00059 inch) run out.

Way more accurate than it needs to be for wood turning. I am very pleased.

[hughie]

Way more accurate than it needs to be for wood turning. I am very pleased.


Good one Paul :2tsup:

[rsser]

Yeah, good result.

Interesting to read that cleaning and oiling the works helped.

[Paul39]

Yeah, good result.

Interesting to read that cleaning and oiling the works helped.

The finish is a black oxide, which is a bit gritty. I figured that when the male and female tapers were coming together the friction was cocking the adapter a bit.