great idea - kids love hand cranking - some aren't co-ordinated enough to treadle.

Miriam, I'm not sure I'm coordinated enough to treadle, either! LOL. But, I do have health reasons why (and I won't go into a long story on that). I'm enjoying the heck out of my Singer 403A, and my 202 is almost ready for use. The motor has been completely re-wired (except for the field coils). but the shellac is cracking, and I want to try Glenn's method to see if I can improve it. Otherwise, the decals are going to flake off. Since the decals are about 98% there, I don't want to use it until I can get the shellac worked on. I also have the Minnesota Model A which belongs to my cousin in Arkansas, and the National Two Spool where the shellac is cracking, etc. It would be a shame to lose the decals on those machines, too. When I can work on these is weather-dependent -- We moved to Florida for warmer weather, but it's been in the 20's the past couple of nights! Go figure!

Jeanette

20s beats single or minus digits... I kind of feel like hibernating. I come up for hot chocolate once in a while... DH put some soup out in the enclosed breezeway to cool and it froze pretty quickly. bbbbbbrrrrrr I think spring is malfunctioning here or something.

Ask Glenn about the checking - maybe he can do something with some pictures. I think it can be improved and it can be a lot of work. I want to work on one that has checked pretty bad, too. I'm worried about a couple machines I have checking with the uneven heat we have here - cold just creeps in through the walls and floor this year.

Most of the time I'm not coordinated enough or something - the fractured/sprained foot has kept me from doing much with the treadle lately. However, this fall I was finally able to treadle - if I can keep it going in the right direction - it is a Davis VS - I think it was set up just for me. I much prefer a hand crank. I also think it has to do with the hand wheel size and weight.