MARCATO Made in Italy Atlas 180 Slide Manual Pasta Machine, Chrome Steel. Good for pasta, bread and cake decoration

You get what you pay for. Obviously, this is priced higher than others like it. I have found it superb. I used its recommended recipe with a 50:50 mix of semolina & 00 flour. I mixed that in a food processor to provide some gluten build-up. I rolled, folded in half, and rolled again ...and again. I kept doing this until the roll was smooth. It required a few passes, but was definitely worth it.The resulting pasta was superb, the best I have ever eaten. Friends have agreed.Cons: it's noisy, not all cutters accept the motor attachment and the price ...but so what? The purpose was to make better pasta and this does exactly that.Initially, I felt guilty about having spent so much money for this product. After one taste, that guilt was gone.I have purchased more cutters as a result. I'm sold.If you are looking to make the best pasta you have ever tasted, purchase this product, use a 50-50 mix of semolina & 00 flour, (weigh your ingredients, don't use measuring cups), create your dough ball in a food processor, and get ready for the best pasta you have ever tasted.

First, do not buy from the manufacturer directly as they do not offer any concessions whatsoever if they send you a damaged product, whereas purchase from Amazon will allow exchanges. Next, the biggest question I had before buying this is whether this machine had removable scrapers under the rollers and none of the reviews were clear. So YES it does, making cleaning a breeze compared to other machines. Metal rods hold the plastic scraper bars in place under the roller and with a very easy motion, they will come off completely and you can clean them instead of trying to clean around the permanent scrapers that are around the rollers on other/older models. This is a huge time saver for folks who work with polymer clay. Next it DOES have the requisite holes around the crank that allows for the addition of a motor. The motor is pricey, but it is a fabulous feature if you do a lot of color mixing with your clay, work with large clay pieces, or have arm/shoulder issues that repeated hand cranking will exacerbate. No you cannot slice a packaged slab into three or less pieces and shove it into the machine without compromising the roller alignment….way too thick. But by using this machine on the largest setting, you can put a 2oz packaged slab cut into four or more pieces thru it and begin the conditioning process. Immediately upon receipt, check your rollers for scratches or other blemishes. I have had two machines that arrived with this type of imperfection. If you use the hand crank, you will need to secure the machine to your table top. It comes with a vice but you will need to add a block of wood or similar to protect your table surface from scratching. The vice is not necessary if you get the optional motorized crank. The gears are smooth in terms of ease of moving from one setting to another. For clay, this model is perfect with just the tray that you can see in the photo sticking up at the back/top behind the rollers vs other models that come with additional functions made to shred pasta etc. Not necessary for conditioning clay, so this model will save you money compared to the one with the added bar for additional pasta cutting features. Finally, for clayers, look online for videos that show you how to remove the front and back fenders of the machine - that’s the protective covering that includes the logo/name of the machine that you can see in the photo. This removal is very helpful for cleaning and keeping your clay from sticking on these fenders - they serve no purpose for working with clay. I also remove the tray I mentioned before because your clay will stick to it….again, you only need the rollers showing at the top of the machine. This is my fourth Atlas because I either received a machine directly from Mercato that was damaged and they would not exchange (unlike going thru Amazon), because I scratched it myself, or because I wanted to upgrade to the larger size. Otherwise all of my machines, some almost 10 years old, are still fully functional, so this machine is a powerhouse that lasts. Although this is a bit more expensive than many designated clay conditions machines, it will outlast them all and so is a value in the long run. The Atlas 150 model is as good but I prefer the 180, which has more width to allow working with larger pieces of clay. Either way, it’s a superior machine to many of the other brands of pasta machines that are sold for conditioning clay. Highly recommend.

I purchased this used acceptable condition. And saved about $40.00 It was clearly used as there were remaining dried pasta on the machine and in the box. However I gave it a quick cleaning and tested it. Worked just fine. I made sure to test it within the 30 day return window. I highly recommend that you make sure that any Used Item you purchase comes with a 30 day return, and test the product right away 😉 I'm very satisfied with my purchase, for the amount of time it took me to clean it, was minimal and I saved $40.00 Note that this unit is a Roller Only, there are No Attachments for it!

It's simple to operate and goes very thin, whether clay or dough!

Test this product thoroughly before your return window is up. I bought this used from Amazon Warehouse as it labeled only cosmetic defects. It looked nearly perfect out of the box and spun freely so I figured it was fine. I got sick for a time so it sat in the box a few months. First use and the gear snapped after ten revolutions of non-strenuous use, indicating an underlying craftsmanship issue. Emailed the manufacturer's customer service to see if they sell replacement gears and haven't heard back, it's been almost 6 weeks. I have an expensive paperweight now. I'd say make sure you buy with their 2-year warranty but their customer service hasn't left me much confidence.

Five stars because I can’t give more. Top quality machine, top quality results and more than this, their customer support rocks. Highly recommend.

Wish these things were easier way to disasseble to clean the roller pieces.

It works great, but it's hard to keep it in place while you are rolling the dough and some times the handle comes off.