There are only two ESSENTIAL tools for making polymer clay flower and leaf canes (e.g. like the buttons above). One of those is a pasta machine, and the other is a tissue blade. Read the article below to find out why you need a pasta machine, and the things to look for when buying pasta machines for polymer clay use…
Why You Need a Pasta Machine for Polymer Clay
Pasta machines allow you to:
- Condition the clay much more quickly than by hand
- Create gradations of colour (e.g. Skinner Blends and bullseye canes)
- Mix colours quicker and more evenly than by hand
- Make sheets of clay that are a specific thickness, so you get more predictable and precise results
Things to look out for when buying a pasta machine to use with polymer clay:
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Detachable cutters:
Many pasta machines have a cutter attachment (e.g. for making tagliatelle strips, etc). You do not need the cutter attachment if you are using polymer clay, because (1) the cutter will just get gummed up with polymer clay, and (2) it adds unnecessary bulk/weight to the machine. (Strangely enough it doesn’t necessarily add more cost! One of the cheapest pasta machines I’ve seen has actually got the cutting mechanism included as part of the machine.) If you do buy a machine with a cutter, make sure the cutter is detachable and not part of the actual machine.
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Thickness settings:
Try to find a pasta machine with at least 7 thickness settings, and preferably 9. It’s nice to have a wide selection of thicknesses.
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Table clamp material:
If possible, try to find a machine that uses an all-metal table clamp instead of a clamp with a plastic knob. (The plastic ones sometimes break.)
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Table clamp adjustability:
Also speaking of table clamps, research beforehand what the minimum thickness of table is that the clamp can cope with. If you need to clamp the pasta machine to a relatively thin tabletop then the clamp might have too big an aperture. This problem can be solved by inserting a small block of wood under the table top, but it’s still usually better just to have a clamp that can deal with all thicknesses of table.
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Price:
The more expensive machines are often better quality and last longer, but if you’re a serious polymer clay addict then you will probably find that the pasta machine deteriorates within a couple of years no matter what you paid for it. Either the gears will get worn and the machine will start to make clanking and/or grinding noises, or the machine will start to leave mysterious black streaks on the clay. At that point, no matter how much you paid for it, it’s probably time to buy another one.
In the end it’s up to you to decide how much to spend. A more expensive machine might last longer than a cheaper one, but it is still likely to need replacing within a few years because pasta machines are designed for making pasta and not polymer clay. (If you do see a polymer clay machine that looks suspiciously like a pasta machine but just in a box that says “polymer clay rolling machine” instead of “pasta machine”, then it’s often a pasta machine that has just been put in a box that calls it something else (especially if it comes with a mysterious cutting attachment that looks like it might be good for cutting tagliatelle…))
Below are some pasta machines I found when I did a quick search on Amazon.
I happen to be an Amazon affiliate, so if you click on any of the products then I might get a small commission (at no extra cost to you), but of course you can just do a search for “pasta machines” yourself, and avoid my links 🙂
