Lara122: You betcha. Kevin is a gun nut too... he has several.

I wanted to thank Cathy(Mizkaki) for finding an ALUMINUM 99 clone. We will be looking at that one Tuesday.

BTW I wanted to share this story from quiltjoey (who is the wonderful person who is donating and sending me 99 clone. (a Singer Spartan)

"I mailed the Spartan today through the post office standard mail. Please let me know when you get it. This is exciting. When the clerk asked me in the post office what it was, I explained what we were doing and everyone just cheered! Isn't that wonderful?"

Thank you for sharing that quiltjoey and for the donation of the Spartan. Kevin is really looking forward to it.

Hey folks,

Cathy just came over last night with the aluminum 99 clone. Wow.... It is amazingly light. Cathy included in the donation a set of feet, a bunch of needles, a few spools of tough good thread, over a dozen bobbins, and a couple of original tools (screwdrivers and lint brush) THANK YOU!

Tonight I will convert that one to handcrank. Then I am just waiting for the other 99 to arrive and I will get IT converted to handcrank and get them both packed up.

I am sending both. "Two is one, one is none" (old military phrase...)

The Spartan is now converted to handcrank. I have a modern knockoff handcrank on there now for testing purposes.

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I still need to find a solid case for this one before I can ship it.

Tonight the Aluminum one...

I so want to see the aluminum one! With all that Cathy brought, what all does Kevin still need?

nice cut on that wheel! I wish I had the courage to do one.

Actually, it was a grind not a cut. I have a grinding wheel that is the width of the slot you see... hehe took 5 minutes on the grinder, 5 minutes with a file to soften edges and surfaces, and 1 minute with a black sharpie to "blacken" the cut metal. (...and yes, I am mostly fearless in the shop when it comes to metalwork)

I did the same thing to the Aluminum 99 from Cathy last night. however as is the nature of the universe.... the two machines are not the same. The aluminum 99 is 3/8" "shallower" as measured from the surface of the lock wheel/disk to the bolt hole of the mounting boss.

When I tried to mount the knockoff handcrank on that one, the screw that is the axle for the top gear actually touches the lock wheel/plate.

I tried the original Singer handcrank but the bolt on the aluminum unit is larger and therefore I would have to drill out the hole in the original handcrank to fit. not sure I want to do that.

Heather will be doing some test stitching with the Spartan today I will post pics as available.

(I am working a 1/2 schedule this every day this week and next with the other half being vacation. My eldest daughter graduates law school Saturday, and my Parents and my Sister w/family are at my house for the two weeks.......)

I think that we are good for sewing supplies at this time. I will be picking up more thread to send along as well.

Steve,

Lets get together again next week and see if we can't find a solution. I'll bring several hand cranks and hand wheels. I'm not willing to let a machine win. VBG

Cathy

Wow, Steve, that crank looks great on the Spartan! Only wish I had had a case for it. Hope all works well when it is tested...

sews like a champ, even just sitting on a table. Thanks again!