Read this before using a pasta machine for clay.
Nearly all clay work can be done with an acrylic roller, but a pasta machine reduces the amount of laboring and time needed to do numerous tasks and techniques.
In this guide I talk about some tips for caring & handling your pasta machine which will reduce wear and tear — allowing your machine to last much longer — and I will go over how to deal with 5 of the most common issues you might face when working with one.
You may continue reading, but if you’re like me who prefers to listen and see, you can watch in video format:
Pasta Machine Care:
My first tip, is be gentle with your pasta machine:
A good rule of thumb is to avoid rolling clay that is more than double the thickness of any setting on the dial of your pasta machine. Forcing too much clay through any setting can result in permanent damage to your pasta machine over time. You will know if this has occurred if clay consistently sticks to the rollers on the thinnest settings. This is an indication that the guide blades beneath may be bowed or that the alignment of the rollers might be compromised. This causes a gap that prevents the blades from lifting the clay off of the rollers.
To prevent pasta machine roller damage, slice your clay into thin sheets and then roll it through your machine through the largest setting. You may have to pick up small pieces and stick them back together and keep running it through the rollers. Gradually reduce the thickness settings to speed up the conditioning process. The reason for this is that the thinner settings help work more surface area. You can feed it again by folding it in half or folding the sides, I personally do a combination of both. Just be sure to make sure the folds are never at the top to avoid air bubbles.
If the clay crumbles when rolling, knead crumbled pieces a bit with the warmth of your hands or do some initial rolling with your acrylic roller.
1. Horizontal Streaks/Ridges
Horizontal Streaks or Ridges — Almost all pasta machines may show some horizontal ridges in your clay. It may be hard to see, but sometimes you’ll see faint colorless horizontal steaks in your sheets of clay due to the clay rubbing against the rollers. And it’s usually not noticeable after the baking, sanding and polishing process. However, they may be more likely to show if you’re using the thickest or thinnest settings of your pasta machine.
Also, these lines may get more pronounced as your machine wears out overtime, especially through rough handling of your pasta machine. However, if the lines do bother you, here are two things you can do.
- After you finish rolling your clay, rotate your clay at a 90 degree angle and feed it through the machine again, this should reduce the appearance of those horizontal lines.
- The second option is to place a sheet of parchment paper on top of your clay and smooth it by burnishing your acrylic roller back and forth. This does not mean to roll the roller, but rather rub the clay in order to smooth out the lines.
2. Rippling & Chattering
Another issue you might face is Rippling or Chattering. The image to the left demonstrate the effects of Rippling, where a portion of the clay is being stretched because the clay sticks to both rollers as opposed to one. In the image to the right show the effects of chattering which occurs when clay sticks to the blade and releases after pressure builds up and then sticks to it again.
Both issues often occurs on a thinner setting when using overly sticky clay. To resolve this, you could use a firmer brand of clay or apply a backing sheet as you roll your clay — I talk about clay firmness of different clay brands in my Polymer Clay Review Tutorial.
If the rippling issue is caused by wear and tear on your machine, using two machines can alleviate this problem by using the compromised one for more intensive things like conditioning & color mixing, while the other for passing through final sheets through thinner settings.
3. Black Streaks
Black Steaks is another common issue that can occur. Overtime, the steel rollers of your pasta machine may have a chemical reaction with the plasticizer in the clay. This can cause black vertical streaks of oily-looking residue on your clay which tend to show up along the outside edges or on the rollers itself. This can be prevented by periodically cleaning your rollers.
4. Scratched Rollers
To avoid Scratched Rollers — avoid putting any clay containing inclusions through your machine. Inclusions like glitter may get stuck all over your machine and become near impossible to remove. Other inclusions may get struck on the blade. You can remove them by running a sheet of baby wipe through the rollers. At worse, inclusions might scratch your rollers or you may end up with a nicked blade (which might be smoothed out using sandpaper, however, it would involve disassembling your pasta machine).
5. Pasta Machine Crank Dropping Off
And lastly, if your pasta machine handle keeps falling off, please note that it’s not you, this is a common problem for many pasta machine users. You can prevent this by putting a bit of duck tape on the handle to help secure it in place. It really depends on your machine, i’ve heard them some like to cut the tip of a rubber glove instead and them jam it in with hammer. But for me a small piece of tape is enough for it to not accidentally fall out, while still making it possible to pull it back out even while there’s some resistance.
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