I am very interested in this thread.
WARNING: Moronic questions may follow; I am the Novicest of Novices!
So, not having seen in person a hand crank, I had envisioned that one would simply attach a nice handle to the wheel, to enable it to be turned by, um, hand. But it was illustrated on this thread that this will pretty much mean one complete crank rotation per stitch. Hmmmm. Is that correct?
It was also mentioned that one need a spoked wheel; could someone kindly tell me why one needs a spoked wheel?
What is a "motor boss"? (Told you I know almost nothing...)
Finally, one of the photos shows a more complicated handcrank mechanism which seems to drive the handwheel with a belt, thereby presumably giving a more effective number of stitches per hand-crank rotation?
I would like to learn more, as I aspire to convert my latest rescue into a hand crank. Perhaps. ;-)