The phrase "hand crank" refers to a device that you manually turn with your hand to make something work or move, usually without needing electricity or batteries. Full definition
The students watched a short video about how solar panels work, and then tried a hands - on activity in which they discovered how much work is required to power a 60 - watt light bulb with hand cranks, compared with using a small solar panel. (green.blogs.nytimes.com)
i have a wonderful collection of hand crank egg beaters hanging on my wall. (theinspiredroom.net)