I have the same machine and plan to do the same thing with it one of these days! Kmoulton, look for the weight of the machine - it should run around 20 pounds, while the full size machines are around 38 pounds. This is including the case. Apparently there are aluminum Singer 99's, as well, but I've never seen one for sale. The 301a is nice and light, too, and you could probably put a hand crank on it.