Review: Amaco Clay Machine

I decided to buy a clay machine since I heard so many good things about it speeding up simple tasks when it came to polymer clay.
So, I bought the Amaco Clay Machine at a Michaels craft store. At Michaels it cost $24.99. I used a 50% coupon on my machine and ended up only paying $12.49 for it. That's a good deal! 

This is the Amaco clay machine I bought.

The Amaco Clay Machine

General info: The Amaco Clay Machine offers 1-9 thickness settings for your clay. It can help create uniform sheets of clay, create all sorts of skinner blends, or condition that stiff clay that would take forever to soften by hand. 

Product Material: Everything is a sturdy metal, except for the yellow plastic handles.

What's in the box: 1 clay machine, 1 handle, 1 clamp, and a small instruction sheet.

Pros

• Fairly simple and straightforward to use.
• Handle pops in or out easily for easier storage after you're done.
• No small loose parts. Only the handle and clamp.
• Conditions clay and creates skinner blends much easier than doing it by hand.
• Seems simple enough to clean. Just roll disposable wipes through the rollers a couple of time to get rid of residue.

Cons

• The handle- It can fall off easily whether or not the machine is in use. Also, the plastic "grip" is secure but loose feeling and wobbly. 
• Thickness settings- It doesn't seem like a HUGE difference in between half of the sizes. So instead of 9 settings it seems like there is maybe 5 settings with noticeable difference. 1-5 has barely any difference. The thickest setting is still pretty thin, I'm guessing it's around 1/8 of an inch. (Image provided below)
• Clay rollers- It looks like mine a just a tad bit crooked when I'm on a thin setting.
• Clamp- Mine was useless due to the yellow plastic covering some of the threading so it didn't work as it should have. I had to cut off the plastic myself. Other than that, you need to have a table that's thicker than 1/2 inch for it to clamp down the machine. (Image below)
• Because the handle is large you HAVE to keep the machine at the edge of your table or else it cannot complete a complete rotation. This is an issue to me because I have a small craft table.
• At the very end of my clay rolling through the machine the end decides to slightly warp and curl. So I have to trim off a tiny bit of my clay sheet in the end.

Would I recommend this product? No. 

Not unless you have a good coupon to get this at a reduced price or you have no other product brand to choose from. IF you do buy this product in a store I do recommend to open the box and inspect the contents to make sure everything is in there.

Sculpey and Makin's also create a clay conditioning machine. Although I have not tried those products they have better reviews than this brand. The Michaels I work at does not offer any other clay machines, but Joann's store may carry Sculpey or Makins. You can always order from Amazon, but it will be more expensive (and you can't use a coupon!)

The thickness setting comparisons. Not a crazy difference until the end. 

My clamp was partially covered with plastic, so I had to slowly cut the plastic bits off with a razor.