Question about converting Bel air bantam to handcrank
 

Hey all,
I have been on the lookout for a lightweight handcrank machine. I have the crank for my 221 FW and sometimes use it, but it's not geared, so is very slow--like one stitch per turn slow.

someone mentioned the bel air bantam as a possibility. Can this one be used with one of those retro geared handcranks, or it going to be the same situation as the 221? None of the bantams that I've seen for sale has a spoked hand wheel which is why I'm asking.

I've also seen some 99s that are handcranked, but since they need to be in a base I am wondering if they would be much heavier than what I'm looking for....

Thanks in advance for any info/insight...

Rob

Maybe this link will help > https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintag...n-t268445.html

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

Didn't Joe Miller do one of these conversions? I tried to search for it, but didn't find it. I may have seen it on VSS. Maybe someone else is a better searcher than me.

bkay

The only light weight hand crank I have seen was a 185K, it was in a pale wooden base, it looked a bit like a suit case. I remember I liked the wooden base a lot, I think it came in a plastic version too, but here the wooden base seems to be more common. The base for the 99 is not the heavy parts, it's the cast iron body there's no way about. A 185 is the same as a 99, but aluminum body, but larger and still a bit heavier than a Featherweight. There's a bit of info on it here. I don't think the hand crank version is very common, but common enough for me to have come across one.

Steve over at VSS converted a Bantam, not Joe.

Cari

Thanks, I thought I remembered someone mentioning they'd done a conversion. Looks a little more involved than I'd like to get, but a distinct possibility if I can come up with a cheap enough Bantam.

Rob

The 99 isn't terribly heavy. It needs to be in a base or cabinet due to the underlying mechanism...the doohickey junction underneath the feed dog assembly is lower than the rest of the underbody mechanism, making it sit unevenly when uncased.

I looked up both Singer 185 and Bel Air on ebay and there were a few hits. This is similar to the one I have seen, I still like those blond wood cases. The price on this one is off the beam, but I like the green color.

I know this doesn't help you in VA, but I've seen two on CL in LA area recently. They seem to have different face plate designs! The three I've seen in pictures all looked different. One was $60 and was gone in about two weeks. The other has been posted for over a month, but the price went up from 75 to 100 (I think I remember an intermediate price jump too)! I was interested because of the possibility of HC conversion, but didn't want to spend that much. I would post pics but don't know if that violates copyrights, so here is link.
https://inlandempire.craigslist.org/...247404119.html

Thanks everyone. I will keep up the search for either a Belair bantam to convert, or the singer 185k.

Does the bel air bantam need need to be in a case to sew?

Rob