Will her lid still fit with the hand-crank on?

You can purchase a handcrank that bolts onto the original wheel. They work great! Do a search on Google, that's how I found mine.

Power outages happen.....I have a treadle for that reason. And I have oil lamps and battery operated lamps too. Heaven forbid that I can't sew because of lack of power. Also, on a nice day, you could take a handcrank out and set it on a picnic table and sew outside if you wished. I sew on the deck of our trailer sometimes, with my featherweight. It's kinda nice when the weather is good and the birds are flitting about......

I converted two electric 99s to handcrank. It is really quite easy to take the motor off. Just follow the wires where ever they lead and remove them. One of mine had a really old electric "thing" where storage would normally have been in the case. It took a lot more screws to get that one out (some from the bottom of the case) but it was still pretty obvious. I bought my hand cranks from Cindy Peters (look her up on Google). She was very helpful. I also bought a spoked wheel from her (I had one but not two).

My husband just smiles at my people-powered machines. He understands how neat it is to create items truly all by myself. The funny thing is that have worked all my life in high technology as an engineer and manager! I also like to have a handcrank to take camping since we camp at least half the time without electricity. I love having the option to sew if the weather is nasty or at the end of a long day outside. I'm not a very good treadler, but I can do a handcrank without problem!

My bentwood cases will not fit on the machine with the handcrank on, but it is quite easy to take it off with a single screw bolt. I keep saying I'm going to make a little padded bag so I can just store it on the bed of the machine, but I haven't done it yet ...

Pam

Pam, you and I put a hand crank on a 99 for the same purpose...camping! My DH thinks it's a crazy idea, and we haven't gone camping since I did the conversion, but this next summer I will be going with or without DH!! LOL My DD and grands want to go, so we will go. Anyway, the hand crank conversion is not difficult to do...I had lots of help to do mine, but I would be so willing to do it myself next time. If there is a next time.

I want to convert mine also, just haven't done it yet. Never know when the power goes out and heaven forbid I not have a sewing machine. Power went out several years ago and we were without power for a week. I thought I would go nuts.

Mary

I like the idea of having a machine that I can put on our porch in good weather and sew.
While I know that power outages happen, and they have here, it is not the aguement I can give my DH. He put in a whole house generator that runs on our LP, and I already have a treadle I can use.!
I still want a hand crank though, regardless if he thinks its a silly idea.

Thank you all for your encouragement. It helps to bounce off these ideas with people who have an idea of what I am talking about

Or tell your husband you will be saving on the electric bill by using the hand crank. :)

Candace and Barbara Sue; I have the same machine - how funny! I am donating mine. How have you cleaned, if you had to, the slide plates? Mine are blackside and have rust so am looking for cleaning options for them I do have Barkeeper's Friend but am leary of using it and removing the blackside finish. My case is in sad shape so DH and I are cleaning it up some but don't have enough time to strip it and refinish it.

Graham Fordyce, a well-knownFeatherweight expert, recommends TuffStuff for cleaning the machines. It is an automotive upholstery cleaner that I had great results with. Spray it on and gently wipe it off. It had no impact on my decals but cleaned up a couple of real old Singer 27s and White rotarys.

Pam