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. :-(