Pasta Machine for Clay – Maintenance and Buying Tips

Do you love your pasta machine as much as I love mine? What do you like most (or least) about the brand that you own.

Although my Amaco machine has been good to me, one complaint I have is that the handle often slips out when it shouldn't.

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This question came to me by email today:

"What pasta machine do you recommend? I am a beginner at cane work and my amaco does not work well – slips gears while cranking. Thanks so much!! Jen"

ANSWER:

Jen – I have been using an Amaco Pasta Machine and it still works well for me. I'm thinking your gears probably got stripped, perhaps trying to force hard clay into it. Especially if it's only put into one side of the rollers.

A lot of clayers use the Atlas 150 but it is much more expensive than the Amaco. You could also consider the Ultimate clay Machine by Makins Clay, I have been hearing good things about it.

Michaels Arts and Crafts Stores carry the Ultimate Makins line and it would be a great deal with one of their 50% off coupons!

Hope that helps.

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Very nice site! I saw your comment about the handle slipping out of the pasta machine. I found some super strong magnets and placed them around the handle area on the machine. I find the handle doesn't fall out as often. What bugs me is the black streaks that appear sometimes on the clay after running it through the rollers. I know the machine is clean so i'm convinced it's some sort of "chemical reaction". I think it's the rollers reacting with the clay. It's an Amaco purchased at Michaels. I tend to mix different brands of clay together and sometimes add powders, glitter etc to the clay. This could be the problem. I can't figure it out!

Carol, That's an interesting tip about the magnets. Thanks for sharing.

Now about the streaking issue, I have the exact same pasta machine as you and have used several different kinds of clay without any problems… so I am pretty sure it's not a chemical reaction issue.

Have you taken the machine apart to clean it or just cleaned the rollers from the top? Lots of clay can get trapped behind the scrapers as well as where the rollers meet the edges of the pasta machine? Cleaning these areas can only be accomplished if take the machine apart.

It can be tricky to take a pasta machine apart so I just filmed a video on how to do that. It will be in the Polymer Clay Tutor Members Library very soon!

If you want to find out more about becoming a member, you can click the link by my name.

Happy Holidays!

I have two pasta machines. One for dark colors and one for light or white only. I have to clean them each and every time because clay gets stuck on them [See pic below]. I do not know if the rollers themselves are in need of something or if there are tips I am unaware of. I appreciate your time Cindy. I want to be able to clay like you but it takes so long with sticky rollers and cleaning the machines all the time. Do you have to clean yours all the time or does your clay not stick? It does not matter what kind of clay I use either. In the pic below, it is Kato clay. Thanks again.

PS: I have joined your beadvideos members library and absolutely love it! Thanks for your time Cindy. You rock!

Sherry, thanks for sending in the photo, that makes a tremendous difference in helping me to understand and see the type of problem you are experiencing.

The way the clay is sticking to the roller like that, looks like a huge pain. No wonder you are frustrated!

I am curious… when you say you clean your pasta machine, are you just wiping down the rollers, or are you taking the whole thing apart and cleaning the scrapers inside?

I'm wondering, if there is a whole bunch of old clay stuck behind the scrapers that are forcing the blades out and therefore not properly scraping the rollers when you pass the clay through.

Your rollers don't appear pitted or damaged in any way and since it is happening to all brands of clay, that is my suspicion.

Taking apart a pasta machine (and more importantly, putting it back together) has to be done a certain way. I have created a video on exactly how to do this, which is in the back issues of the polymer clay tutor library [See "Cleaning-Pasta-Machine" Link by my name above].

If it isn't old clay in the scrapers, I'm not really sure what it is, but maybe someone else here does. Don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this! :-)

I am actually taking the whole thing apart. I have only wiped it down with dry paper towel. My husband said it could rust if it stays wet for long periods of time so I have only used dry cloths. I do see all the clay at the bottom of the rollers and take it out before switching colors. Also, I keep it covered if I am not using it for long periods of time. It always seems to get a gray line of something, almost like metal dust, on the clay if it does not get used enough. Weird?
Just FYI: One of my pasta machines is the same as yours and the other was a find at a rummage for $3.00. It is an Ampia made in Italy. Works awesome but rollers are not as wide as the Amaco. It has three rollers, two are for cutting pasta. If you have one of these, "have fun taking it apart and putting it back together." It has so many springs and parts inside. Unless you know where they go, you are in trouble by taking the first screw out! Thanks for your help Cindy. I will try taking the top parts off and see how it goes.

Sherry that sounds very frustrating! I am not sure what is happening with your machine. I have been trying to do some research on what it could be but have not found anything yet.

The biggest problem with the machines is that they are made for flour dough and not clay. There could be some compatibility issue here. but I'm not sure.

I will continue to keep an eye out for a fix for this problem. In the meantime, I hope someone here has an answer for you, since currently I am stumped! Sorry about that. :-(

Hi Cindy, I know you have suggestions on purchasing a new pasta machine-cannot find it. I would be looking for machine in North Van or Vancouver. Thanks, Joan

I love your website! I look forward to Friday videos.

I looked all over the sight and could not find the answer to my problem, so I am asking.

My pasta machine is leaving grey marks on my clay. I have cleaned it and that helps for a time. This is not an old machine I've used it for about a month. I did buy it second hand. Is this normal?

Thank you for your time, Kim

I am embarrassed to say I fixed my problem by turning the machine over and cleaning the gunk off the bottom!!!! I had been cleaning it from the top and running the baby wipes through it. There was still some build up that was not coming off by just cleaning machine that way. My white is now staying white!
.

Cindy:
I couldn't get my clay/pasta machinc back together. It has spring/wire clips that hold the scrapers in place and I just could't fit them all back together. I bought an Amaco and noticed that it also has the clip thingies but they looked a little different. I called Amaco and they said not(!!) to take the machine apart. That the only reason it gets clay in the scrapers is if you crank backwards. They recommend using waxed paper around your clay whenever it is put into the machine. I don't think I have ever cranked mine backwards, and while I haven't tried the waxed paper I can imagine that it would get tedious real fast. I have looked everywhere I can think of on the internet and haven't seen any mention of the spring clips that hold the scrapers. Could/ would you comment on this? Thanks.

Oh Beverle that sounds like such a pain for you! I have never heard of springs inside of the pasta machine like that, it must be a new model. I agree that using wax paper would be a huge problem. Not to mention the wrinkles and stuff you would get every time you ran clay through it.

That is just not true about the clay getting behind the scrapers only when going backwards! Tons of clay gets behind mine and I never go backwards!

Why can't these guys design a pasta machine with easily removed blades at a reasonable price? It is not exactly rocket science. Polymer Clay Express made one but since they are such a small company, they can't manufacture in any kind of volume and the price is pretty high IMO. Especially for a beginner just trying the medium out.

And another thing that bugs me, is these things are originally designed for food. What kind of food machine can't be taken apart to clean? It's bizarre! Any way, sorry for the rant.

I don't know what to say as far as what to do. Hopefully someone else has some ideas that can help. Can you tell us the make and model so we can warn people not to take it apart? That would at least help others from having the same problem.

Sorry I can't help you more. :-(

I haven't seen this problem come up with clay and was wondering if anyone knows how to handle it. How do you keep all the clay pieces from falling on the floor at your pasta machine? I have been doing a lot of claying learning how to do quilt pieces and I have a mess on my floor. Grant you its in the basement, but it still is a mess. Does anyone know how to take care of it? Thank you.

@June Frederick: Hi June, I have had a stray piece or two land on the floor, and then I pick it up, dust it off, and put it in my scrap jar (unless it's a big piece, then I try to clean it off with alcohol and use tweezers to get any stray fibers.) But I've never had clay landing all over the floor.

I usually put my hand under the rollers, so that the clay rolls out right into my hand. If it is crumbly, some pieces end up on the table, some in my hands. (This is where a stray piece lands on the floor sometimes.) I keep the table & pasta machine base clean in-between colors with baby-wipes. This way I can just pick up these pieces and stick them together again. Then I keep running them back through the PM again & again until they stick together in a sheet. I've never had the stuff go all over the floor, though. Are you working with really crumbly clay or something? Or is there not much table under your pasta machine to catch the clay?

my pasta machine sits on a bench it is the only place i have to clamp it to
and my clay some of it is really crumbly i think some of it from the stores is probably old i use mix quick and a clay softener but it really takes awhile to get it to the right stage in the mean time putting it thru the pasta machine even with my hand under it i can't catch all the crumbly pieces
my craft room is in my basement and this time of year the furnace doen't run as much so its a little cool.is there anything to use to get it off the floor. i know rubbing acholol working for some things but you would need a lot for a floor.

@j frederick: I would use baby wipes or swiffer or some kind of damp, disposible cloth to get the majority of it off the floor. If it's really spread out, you might need to use a dust broom or something first to get the scattered pieces. Go over it with the wipes until you've got all but "resistant" spots. Then, use something like alcohol (or acetone? depending on your floor-type) to get just the bits that don't want to come up with the baby wipes or whatever. Actually, I would imagine that after you get the loose bits of clay up off the floor, you could go over it with anything that your floor type could handle — bleach, pine-sol, vinegar & warm water, etc.

I've never seen this topic anywhere, so I'm just saying what I think I would do. What kind of floor do you have in your basement? After you get it cleaned up, you might want to put some kind of plastic tarp or something under your bench to protect it. They have those acrylic office mat-type things that might work, too. Just so that when you get a lot of clay on it, you could gather it up and shake it into a bin for easier clean-up next time.

Hopefully, someone else has some better cleanup suggestions. I'm sorry I can't be of more help! The only other thing I can think of is to try to put something at the base of your pasta machine to catch the clay (not sure what, though – I'd have to see the setup to get my brain working on it!) Good luck with this unique problem!

thanks for the help have scraped it up off the floor am scrubbing it next
and a new paint job when thats done its cement ive put an old carpet
by the machine.

@j frederick: Maybe you should try using a food processor for conditioning, so you can avoid the super-crumbly stage (and most of the mess!) I hate to think of you having to clean up all of that clay!

@j frederick: I use Kato clay which is reknowned (notorious?) for being crumbly as you start to condition it. Perhaps the way I deal with this will also help you avoid all the crumbles with your clay. Here's what I do, which is my variation on a process I saw at Over The Rainbow (polymerclay.com.au/polymer-clay-kato-polyclay-c-21_446_493.html):

1. Cut a slice from the block that's just a bit thicker than the thickest setting on the pasta machine.

2. Feed it through the pasta machine at the thickest setting (#1 on mine).

3. WITHOUT FOLDING THE CLAY, set the pasta machine one setting thinner (e.g. #2 on mine), and feed the clay through again.

4. Repeat the "one setting thinner, feed it through again" process WITHOUT FOLDING THE CLAY until it's getting quite thin. For really crumbly Kato I go down to setting #7 (out of 9), but for normally-firm Kato I only go down to setting #5 (out of 9).

5. At that stage, fold once and feed through the pasta machine at that thin setting, then repeat this "fold and feed" process a few times.

6. After a few folded passes through that thin setting, back the machine off a couple of settings, fold and feed a few times, then back off again until you get to a medium thickness (e.g. #3 on my machine) where you can finish the conditioning process. For example, for really crumbly Kato that I'd started folding at #7, I'd back off to #5 for a bit, and then back off again to #3 to finish the conditioning; for normally-firm Kato that I'd started folding at #5, I back off once to #3 and condition there.

The other thing which I occasionally did before I discovered the above method was to take the unopened packet of clay out to the garage and beat the living daylights out of it from all sides with a mallet until I could feel it "moving" and deforming smoothly, at which point I'd slice it and finishing the conditioning as normal. (This is often referred to as the "Jana Whack" method.) When using a quantity of clay cut from a large block, I'd just use one or two layers of extra-heavy-duty ziplock bag.

thanks for the jana whack method that one sounds like a winner to takeout all my frustations ive already done the food processor with the clay softener and that seems to help thanks for the input everyone.