And then apparently not in any great quantity. Which was only made for the very early 27K. The problem is of course that you first need to acquire your Part No. It’s a job which requires nothing more than one ordinary screwdriver and five minutes of your time. Once you have your Hand Attachment 81712 to hand, as it were, it’s simply a case of undoing one screw and removing the belt guard from your early 27K, then fitting the handcrank by clamping its mounting bracket round the collar onto which the belt guard was originally fixed.

So, should you wish to fit a hand-crank to one of these fine old treadle machines, how might that be done when there is no apprarent means of attaching one? In theory it’s easy – all you need is Hand Attachment 81712, as shown below together with a bobbin winder assembly which wanted to be in the picture too … The best I can do is say that in 1900 at least some 27K’s didn’t have a boss but by 1903 they all did. Later 27K’s do have one, but only a real vintage Singer geek could tell you when they changed from bossless to bossed. That’s the “boss”, or rather it would be if this machine had one. If you didn’t, and you’re not entirely sure what a “boss” is in this context anyhow, look closely at the right-hand side of the column of this particular 27K, and hopefully you’ll be able to see that there isn’t the usual sticky-outy bit to which a hand crank or indeed a motor can be fitted. And if you did, I bow down before your awesome knowledge of such arcane stuff. Now, if you’re really into the old Singer stuff, I bet you got as far as “made in 1900” in that sentence and immediately said to yourself “Ahah! So it hasn’t got a boss for a handcrank!”. Here’s a picture of the drive end of Elsie’s old faithful 27K, which was made in 1900 and still resides in the ornate drawing room cabinet* in which it left the shop 112 years ago.

Jones hand crank sewing machine