Hi Tessagin, I looked at those, but I don't think 4 AA batteries would hold up very long, I'm gone 2 or 3 days sometimes. Not that I couldn't carry batteries, but it doesn't seem 'green' in my mind. I was particularly taken with the one that looks like my 404, but it is all plastic, not going there.

thanks Rodney, about the featherweight transition not working. I think I knew that but my brain doesn't run on all cylinders. I'm running through shopgoodwill right now, just seeing if I can spot a bantam. Gotta train up my eyes.
If you guys spot a good 'un please PM me.

Steve, I saw that thread, what a great save for a vintage machine. It has probably since been passed on to a village granny who is making clothes for everyone.

Just wanted to add to this thread, I think I'm giving myself a brain tumor hunting for a Bantam :)

I have my little sewhandy now and it is SO cute. I can't make it sew a consistently good seam but it is fun trying.

I love HC sewing. I have a Standard machine that can use a round bobbin or it can use a spider to make a chain stitch. It is obscenely heavy though. It does not take a Singer HC. I put a spinner on it. The chain stitches are pretty small so it is a LOT of work to do very much. Maybe it is possible to modify something and attach a Singer HC.

there are a number of reasons my Singer hand crank isn't working on river banks :)
Too heavy to tote around, need to take a table, banging up my bentwood case, size...
But they are lovely machines to quilt on, aren't they.

the hunt for a chain stitcher, which led me to toy machines is purely about weight and true portability.
Thanks for weighing in!
The hunt for a bantam was fueled by the enablers above :)
It WILL take my singer hand crank parts won't it?

yes, it will and does in the thread I posted. Actually, things changed in the last month before he returned and he ended up with the machine back. It is safe and sound at his home in the States now.

I bought a handcrank for my FW. the one advertised and made from a window crank. I was not totally impressed. still have it.

Yesterday, while reading a manual for Singer Golden Touch and Sew on Singerco.com, I read that machine can do chain stitching, but you need a special bobbin cover, a little round plate that fits over the bobbin, under the bobbin plate. It isolates the bobbin from the needle. Says it will ravel readily and should be fastened with a sewing needle at the ends of a seam. I was flabbergasted, for lack of a better word. It was a model 750. Wondering if Cathy has seen one of those little plates floating around. I would like to try it. I have the machine temporarily.

I wonder if the hand crank for the FW shown on Ebay for around $36 would work on the Golden Touch and Sew. I don't want to modify the hand wheel to use the Chinese version. Modification is an option though.

The Singer Golden Touch and Sew can be inexpensive at thrift stores and isn't really heavy, heavy, but still enough. Mine was given to me, but we still don't have a 4-pin plug or controller for it yet. I have given these machines a jaundiced eye until reading the manual and seeing it is a pretty neat machine. Maybe I was wrong, even if it does have plastic gears. I saw some gear sets on sale on Ebay that would work on it, if ever needed. Right now we really need a wiring diagram to make a wire to try it. I'm dying to find out what it can do as far as chain stitching.

Yesterday, while reading a manual for Singer Golden Touch and Sew on Singerco.com, I read that machine can do chain stitching, but you need a special bobbin cover, a little round plate that fits over the bobbin, under the plate. It isolates the bobbin from the needle. Says it will ravel readily and should be fastened with a sewing needle at the ends of a seam. I was flabbergasted, for lack of a better word. It was a model 750. Wondering if Cathy has seen one of those little plates floating around. I would like to try it. I have the machine temporarily.