My Brand New Atlas 150 Pasta Machine (Unboxing)
Video #520: From the Wellness series with patented rollers “GUARANTEED” not to leave any metal residue (aka black streaks).
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IN THIS POST: — atlas 150 wellness pasta machine — anodized aluminum rollers — black streaks — pasta machine — polymer clay tools — clay conditioning machine — rolling polymer clay — unboxing — review — polymer clay roller — polymer clay sheets — (Topics marked with an asterisk* are discussed in the Comments Section below).
Topics Covered In This Video:
- Unboxing new Atlas 150 Wellness Series Pasta Machine Gold (if you purchase a pasta machine through this link that I provided, Amazon will pay me a small referral fee which helps me to make more free videos for you :-)
- I needed a new pasta machine (mine was falling apart and leaving too many black streaks on my clay).
- This machine has anodized aluminum rollers which are supposed to eliminate metal residue on pasta (guaranteed they say)… hopefully it works to eliminate those metallic black streaks on polymer clay too. You can be sure I’ll be keeping you in the loop on this one, since those black streaks are such a pain.
- First impressions… beautiful, sturdy, high quality feel out of the box.
- Comes with a strong C-clamp that has a metal thumb screw. This is a big improvement over the very breakable, plastic design on lower quality pasta machines.
- The crank handle is made of what feels like a strong metal. I mentioned in the video that the handle insert slot appeared to be a title loose… and that it may need tightening with my Pasta Machine Rubber Glove Trick (see resource link further down on this page)… but based on further usage, I found that the handle did stay put and works just fine as is. Yay!
- There is a clamp hole on both sides of the machine. Nice!
- The handle and gears move smooth like butter. Trust me, you can feel a huge difference between this Atlas Machine and the less expensive Sculpey or Amaco Clay Machines.
- The thickness settings on this machine range from 1 at the thickest, to 9 for the thinnest.
- Although I did not show this in the video, here are the Playing Card Thickness measurements which correspond to the settings on this Atlas 150 Wellness Pasta Machine. 1 = 8 playing cards; 2 = 6 cards; 3 = 4 cards; 4 = 3 cards; 5 = 2 cards; 6 = 1.5 cards; 7 = 1 card; 8 = 0.75 cards; and 9 = 0.25 cards (very thin).
- Clay runs through all the settings beautifully. Even sticky clay went to an extremely thin sheet.
- I’m in love! Sorry Dougie.
00:00:03 –> 00:00:08 Hi guys, its Cindy Lietz, your Polymer Clay Tutor, and today’s Product Demo, I am going
00:00:08 –> 00:00:15 to be showing you my new Atlas Pasta Machine.Now it just arrived in the mail yesterday and
00:00:15 –> 00:00:20 Doug said I wasn’t allowed to open it up until he got the camera going, so here we
00:00:20 –> 00:00:26 are and I’m quite excited.Now, I’ve been needing a new pasta machine for a while, mine
00:00:26 –> 00:00:34 is starting to get terrible, and so, I’ve been needing one, so I went and got a new
00:00:34 –> 00:00:38 one.Now this one is supposed to not have the issues with the Black streaks, so we’ll
00:00:38 –> 00:00:47 find out about that, I guess it’s got different rollers…Anodized Aluminum rollers…so.Oh,
00:00:47 –> 00:00:58 my goodness….okay, oh, it’s so pretty, okay… oh the joys of…
00:00:58 –> 00:01:10 I feel like it’s like Christmas time.Alright, here’s the box, it is an Atlas 150 Wellness,
00:01:10 –> 00:01:18 I picked a gold one ‘cause I thought it would be cool, and here we go, now it has
00:01:18 –> 00:01:27 extra rollers and stuff for making spaghetti and fettuccini and stuff like that.Let’s
00:01:27 –> 00:01:37 see if we can get it out of here without too much problem, ooh, alright, ah, isn’t it
00:01:37 –> 00:01:43 beautiful?Alright, so these are the extra rollers, I most likely won’t be using them
00:01:43 –> 00:01:48 for polymer clay but I may just try it, maybe there’s some cool things we can do with
00:01:48 –> 00:01:52 some long strands of Polymer clay, we’ll have to see.
00:01:52 –> 00:02:06 Now, alright, so it’s got rollers…oh, if you only knew how simple I am, a new pasta
00:02:06 –> 00:02:13 machine makes me happy…ooh, oh, nice, okay, so here’s the clamp, I know that’s not
00:02:13 –> 00:02:19 exciting, but I am excited to see that this is metal, so many times… the clamp from
00:02:19 –> 00:02:24 my other machine…now this is a different one, ‘cause I broke a previous one, I’ve
00:02:24 –> 00:02:29 gone through a few of the other pasta machines, but these plastic handles crack and break
00:02:29 –> 00:02:33 off when you try to cinch them down.
00:02:33 –> 00:02:39 I even have on the top of here… the flat part that goes up against the table, this
00:02:39 –> 00:02:47 part here broke off so I took a metal cap and stuck some clay in it and stuffed that
00:02:47 –> 00:02:52 on there to go up against my table, so I mean it was already broken even though that plastic
00:02:52 –> 00:02:55 part hadn’t broken yet.
00:02:55 –> 00:03:00 So this one looks really nice and sturdy, that’s a good sign, and then the handle
00:03:00 –> 00:03:08 itself looks good, it’s metal and not plastic, so that’s good…take this one out of the
00:03:08 –> 00:03:09 way.
00:03:09 –> 00:03:15 And now, because I’m at this side of the table and the handle is at this side, I’m
00:03:15 –> 00:03:22 gonna have to slide this thing off…this is the noodle cutter, and I’ll have to turn
00:03:22 –> 00:03:27 it the other way so that it sits on my machine, of course the wording won’t look right but
00:03:27 –> 00:03:32 it’ll fit, oh and the nice thing about this one is that it’s got a clamp hole on both
00:03:32 –> 00:03:39 sides, so that’s great, if I had the room to turn it on this side, I could put it on
00:03:39 –> 00:03:46 either side, but I don’t have the room for that, alright we’ll put the clamp in, and
00:03:46 –> 00:03:51 it already looks much more sturdy.
00:03:51 –> 00:03:59 Now, apparently these rollers won’t leave any Black residue on pasta when you’re making
00:03:59 –> 00:04:05 it, so I’m crossing my fingers, I guess this is a new product for them, I’m crossing
00:04:05 –> 00:04:13 my fingers that that also holds true for Polymer clay, because I don’t…we don’t like
00:04:13 –> 00:04:22 those Black streaks that happen from the rollers…just a second, I think I’ve got this in the wrong
00:04:22 –> 00:04:25 spot, there, oh, there it is.
00:04:25 –> 00:04:30 And I’m hoping that the rollers themselves don’t leave any little scratches and things,
00:04:30 –> 00:04:37 apparently the rollers are anodized aluminum… which I’ve said a few times now, now I don’t
00:04:37 –> 00:04:43 know, this handle may come out…it is a little loose, so I’ll have to do that ‘handle
00:04:43 –> 00:04:49 falling out’ trick with a little piece of rubber glove, but it looks like it moves nicely
00:04:49 –> 00:04:52 and smoothly, that’s a good sign.
00:04:52 –> 00:05:00 Now there’s probably a little bit of stuff on it, just from being in the box, but it
00:05:00 –> 00:05:06 looks pretty good, and here’s the dial on the side where the different thicknesses are,
00:05:06 –> 00:05:15 now on this one, it looks like the 9 is the thinnest and the 1 is the thickest, so I’ll
00:05:15 –> 00:05:21 have to do that trick again for measuring…I’ve done a video on it in the past, for measuring
00:05:21 –> 00:05:26 the playing card thicknesses of each setting, and then I’ll make a little guide for that,
00:05:26 –> 00:05:31 just to make sure, and then let’s run a piece of clay through it and see if it’s
00:05:31 –> 00:05:32 good.
00:05:32 –> 00:05:41 Yup, it works, that’s a very good sign, it doesn’t looked like it’s rippling,
00:05:41 –> 00:05:48 it’s moving nice and smoothly, ooh, that’s so nice, oh, look at that, let’s see how
00:05:48 –> 00:05:56 thin it’ll go, this is really sticky clay too ‘cause it’s really warm in my studio
00:05:56 –> 00:06:01 today, it’s abnormally warm for Spring, look at how thin that’s getting, wonder
00:06:01 –> 00:06:08 if it’ll go thinner, and I’m not seeing any Black streaks so far, of course it hasn’t
00:06:08 –> 00:06:10 had a chance to scratch up or anything yet.
00:06:10 –> 00:06:19 Ooh, look at that, even thin it’s not rippling hardly at…or at all, see if I can get…this
00:06:19 –> 00:06:26 is getting a little out of control, put it through again, oh my, I’m in love.
00:06:26 –> 00:06:34 Alright, so I’m excited about this, I will let you know…and if we do end up developing
00:06:34 –> 00:06:40 any little Black streaks or anything like that, and how it wears, it feels incredibly
00:06:40 –> 00:06:45 sturdy, it looks beautiful and I’m excited about my new pasta machine.
00:06:45 –> 00:06:51 So I hope that was helpful for you, and if you like this video, do let me know in the
00:06:51 –> 00:06:53 comment section below.
00:06:53 –> 00:07:00 And if you have any things you’d like for me to show you, share with you, teach you,
00:07:00 –> 00:07:06 if you’ve got issues with any kind of Polymer clay problems, let me know, and put those
00:07:06 –> 00:07:08 in the comment section below.
00:07:08 –> 00:07:10 We will see you next time and bye for now.
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Resource Links:
- Amazon: Atlas 150 Wellness Series Pasta Machine Gold **
- Related Video: Black Streaks from Pasta Machine on Polymer Clay
- Related Video: Does Your Pasta Machine Handle Keep Falling Out
- Related Video: Using Playing Cards to Measure Pasta Machine Settings
- Related Video: Pasta Machine for Clay – Maintenance and Buying Tips
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Cindy,
About 3 months ago I purchased an Atlas 150 Wellness pasta machine because it is recommended by Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio in their book, Polymer Clay Color Inspirations. I am just now getting around to using it, and it is totally useless for polymer clay! Running clay through the rollers leaves ripples in the clay that look and feel like corrugated cardboard. This is not the ripples that you can sometimes get when rolling clay very thin; these are deep ridges like a ruffled potato chip. Upon investigating the underside of the machine, I discovered that there are long plastic rippled pieces attached to the metal opposite the rollers. Does your Atlas 150 have this? Have you ever heard of this before? What would you suggest? My clay looks nothing like your clay when you use your Atlas 150. I am so frustrated that I spent so much money for a pasta machine I can’t use for my clay!
Thanks for whatever help you can give.
It sounds like your machine has faulty scrapers. I do have plastic (nylon) scrapers but they are straight and smooth… not rippled at all. You should get it exchanged. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
I was wondering if anyone has used the noodle attachments for the clay and how it has worked out for them?
I have and it works fine… though you need to use firm clay or it gets all curled up in the cutters.
I enjoy Peg and Karon so much and also Leona and Linda and the other young gal. thank you Cindy for being a connecting common way to meet the nicest people ever. Its such a blessing and we are very excited about your site project and understand. You do have the best tutorials ever.
Fran… I did meet up with Patty and with Karon C. We have started a group in Spokane, and meet once a month. We have about 10 members. Karon, Patty and I meet almost every Sun and some days we get a lot done and some days we just talk. They are wonderful women and I am so glad we met.
Hi Cindy!
I wanted to echo the comments from Louise a while back. I too ordered the Atlas wellness 150 in copper. Upon using it with the advice posted, I too got immediate ripples from setting 2 on. I tried it with both the hand crank and the additional motor attachment with the same results. I got the same results in both cases. I immediately returned it and my replacement arrived today.
The first one came in a box that looked a little “weary”.
The replacement came in brand new packaging with the clear window on the upper left and curving around to the left side corner, looking a bit more “modern”.
Although I am out of time to try it this morning, (sorry), I have a feeling that may be a clue to your readers.
Sorry I can’t include a picture. More to come later on…
-Marilyn
I am curious to find out how this new machine fairs Marilyn. It is wonderful when you have equipment that works well, and frustrating when it does not. I hope the new one is better for you.
Woo Hoo! I finally replaced my 3? year old cheap pasta machine which was purchased from my nearest Michaels craft store, with a (drum roll, please!!) Mercato Atlas 150 Wellness machine! It is the chrome coloured model, because I found that, here in Canada, Lee Valley carries them.
The old machine was clunking and whining and periodically just … stopping. I had cleaned it and done everything I could to baby it along, but it had turned sulky. I am going to take it apart and find uses for the bars, etc.
I had been longing for one of the pretty colours through Amazon, but we have had a bad year financially (my husband works in Alberta’s oil patch – well, I guess it would be more accurate to say worked, because Alberta has lost about 25,000 jobs in the patch since last March and his was one of them). What with the exchange rate between US and Canadian dollars, and shipping, getting one of the coloured ones from Amazon.com just wasn’t going to happen. So when I found the chrome model available at Lee Valley, which I could pick up in my nearest city when I was there, and not pay for shipping, AND not pay the exchange rate, I was over the moon! Even if it was my Christmas present from my husband to me, and I had to buy it because he never got there. :) That’s okay, because they had a Bessey 2.5 inch vacuum vise for sale, so he ended up buying me that as well!
So my Silver Streak Sam is installed in my studio. Now to find time to get back in there so I can play with Sam …
I love it that your pasta machine has a name Doreen! I suppose mine could be called Goldie if I choose to go the naming route for my machine. :)
Sorry to hear about your husband’s job. Some jobs are very vulnerable to the changing economy and it sad that it has effected you.
We live very close to the border, so many people here will pop down over the line and purchase things cheaper in the States. But now with the dollar being so low, it isn’t always cheaper anymore. Especially when you factor in shipping or travel and all that, like you mentioned. You can sure tell the difference when you walk around our stores here… the Costco is always packed here now that no one is crossing the border. The food has gone up here, but not enough to make the trek South worth it so they stay home.
Another boom here in BC is the film industry… shows and movies flock to film here when the American Dollar is higher than the Canadian Dollar. So the dollar change is great for some people and terrible for others.
It’s funny how much impact a few numbers can have on the economy and how it effects others lives. I hope that things bounce back for you guys soon.
In the meantime, do enjoy Silver Streak (or should I say no streak) Sam… he should make your claying time much more pleasurable!! :)
Good news about the PM, Doreen but not so good about the work situation. I hope things change for the better. You won’t regret having the Atlas. I have the chrome one and it hasn’t missed a beat in 4 years. Worth every penny :-)
PS Please say G’day to Sam from me :-)