So this project kind of ended before it started! :( sad to say...

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Everyone was right no motor boss = no hand crank. So she will be put aside untill i get a treadle cabinet for her. I am however trying to replace her presser foot lever but i couldnt get the screw out to replace the pieces. Advice?

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The screw on the far left wont fit between the wall on the machine and the bar that holds the entire presser foot mechanisim. advice on how i can replace that part? im hoping that it also doesnt mess with the tension spring to remove a good chunk of whats in there which is what seems like i will have to do? Advice??

When you want to take that pressure foot thing apart oil it with Tri-flow - wait - then use a little heat to turn it. BUT be very careful of that presser foot spring - that sucker will fly out of there clean into the ceiling as hopefully it bypasses your eyes (HINT: it was called a pressure foot by my mom for years...) There might be some kind of a set screw somewhere.

I wish someone made a HC that attached to the box or table or the little hole in the back of the machine where the round hole cover goes or something. I have a mess of machines that could use something, too. Not enough treadle irons to go around - too many people use them to make tables or what ever they do with old treadles. There is someone out there making 2 or 3 dollar window cranks into hand cranks and selling them for $40. You might be happy with one of them on there. Better still figure out how they did it: http://www.ebay.com/itm/FEATHERWEIGH...item2574d9564e

Thanks Miriam! Putting a knob in the balance wheel would be easy enough. I just wanted the 3:1 ratio vs the 1:1 that I think that one provides. Even though I started a decent debate over ratios over at TReadle On and I guess some of the ratios and stuff are wrong. I put the hand crank on a 128 I just rescued and it has the 3:1 ratio. So I dunno where folks get these crazy ideas sometimes. Hehe.

I wish there was a way to just put a knob in it and be done.

I wonder.... You're starting with a new box so there's no reason not to modify it some, right? I wonder if you could mount a pulley 1/3rd the size of the machines belt track on the base and have that driven by the window opener? It would have to either sit further to the right and drive a longer shaft or maybe forward enough to clear the balance wheel, in which case it could be nearer the machine. Any machinist out there?

I do too, pink castle! Where's Joe? Haha he hasn't made a comment yet. :P

I would want it so I could reach it easy

Yeah, I'm thinking forward would work better. You'd need a shaft supported by a bearing in the middle - attach the pulley to the left side and the crank arm to the right. Mount the whole thing high enough that you don't hit your knuckles on the base and with the pulley in-line with the sewing machine's pulley track - some arrangement to fine tune the position would be important. The mount I'm envisioning would look something like a fixture used to mount a handrail to a wall, though it probably wouldn't need to stick out that far in front. The mounting bracket would need to be fairly sturdy and to attach to the base very securely since it will need to resist the tension of the belt and the moment the user would impart if they're not moving their hand in perfect circles.

and it needs to be able to wind a bobbin, too

It just struck me that I have this backwards. OOPS! The drive wheel will need to be three times the size of the machine's belt track or it will have to be geared up. Gearing it up is possible but a PITA. Looks like a treadle base is the best bet.