Help! My Pasta Machine Is Leaving Roller Lines On My Polymer Clay

Video #641: How to end up with smooth sheets of clay that don't show any roller lines at all!... More Info: www.beadsandbea... Polymer Clay Tutor.
Topics Covered In This Video:
* I'm going to show you how to avoid getting roller lines on your polymer clay from your pasta machine.
* Sometimes you will grab a chunk of polymer clay (mine happens to be a section of Sculpey Souffle clay in a Pumpkin color)... and roll it through your pasta machine at the thickest setting... and you'll get these obvious lines running across the sheet that were caused by the pasta machine rollers.
* It doesn't matter whether you have a beautiful pasta machine like this Atlas 150 Wellness Machine, or you have a lower end machine... those lines pretty much always show up when you are using the thickest setting.
* The reason is because of the gears on the rollers, and how they fit together at the different settings.
* The two rollers in a pasta machine turn when you roll your clay through.
* There are gears at the ends of each roller that mesh together so that they roll at the same time and pull the clay through at whatever thickness you set them at.
* At the thickest setting, the rollers are set as far apart as they can go, which means that the internal gears just barely touch at the tips. This causes them to clunk as they go around... jerking the rollers and leaving roller marks on the clay sheet.
* At the thinner settings the rollers mesh together much better and roll much smoother, leaving the clay perfectly smooth.
* The higher number of setting on the machine, the more range in settings there are. Therefore, the wider spread those gears have to go between the thickest and the thinnest settings, and the bigger the 'clunk' at the thickest settings.
* However, there are a few things you can do to help minimize those roller marks from happening.
* The lines are the worst when you force a thick piece of clay through the thickest setting.
* So what you can do is roll your piece through at the thickest setting and then roll it through again at the same setting to flatten the marks out a bit.
* Giving your piece a quarter (90 degree) turn in between passes, will also help to remove the lines from the first pass through.
* It also helps if you kind of pull on the sheet as it is being drawn through the rollers. It causes some resistance on the rollers and helps to minimize the "lurch and clunk" factor.
* When you really want a smooth sheet, just roll the sheet at a thinner setting.
* If a smooth but thick sheet is needed, then consider rolling at a thinner setting and doubling up the clay to make a thicker sheet.
Related Video: My Brand New Atlas 150 Pasta Machine... www.beadsandbea...
Related Video: Polymer Clay Pasta Machine Cleaning... www.beadsandbea...
Related Video: Using Translucent Clay To Clean Your Pasta Machine... www.beadsandbea...
Related Video: Why Some Pasta Machines Leave Black Streaks... www.beadsandbea...
And... more info about today's video is at my blog... www.beadsandbea...
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