The pasta printers corner
Exclusive inspiring content reserved for those who have already practiced kitchen engraving!
Exclusive content for members
Exclusive inspiring content reserved for those who have already practiced kitchen engraving!
To access this content, you must have taken an online course or participated in an in-person workshop
And other surprises to come ...
Material questions
The KIT we made with Corinne sells stuff:
The Kitchen Engraving Kit (with or without the machine)
At art supply stores:
At specialized engraving stores:
In Paris:
Charbonnel: 13 Quai de Montebello, 75005 Paris, France
Joopstoop: 12 Rue le Brun, 75013 Paris, France
The Imperia, Titania, and Atlas models. (These are also good models for pasta, by the way.)
The Ernesto model from Lidl works well, too—it was my first machine, but I ended up breaking several of them...
For the kit , we chose the Artemio model, which offers good value for the price.
• For the drypoint: you can slide a needle or a sharpened nail into a mechanical pencil.
• For the tarlatane: you can use bandage compresses.
• For pressed wool felt: avoid felt that is not dense enough. You can find synthetic felt in sheets, or “Swedish dishcloths” : thick foam cleaning cloths
• For the ink, my advice would be that it’s the only thing worth buying really…
• For the pasta machine: it’s already an alternative to the press!
In general, if you follow the best practices, the risk of damaging it is minimal. To preserve it: do not try to print matrices with materials that are too hard or without felt as this could deform the rollers.
Check the initial pressure: Before passing your "sandwich," make sure that the setting of your machine is not too tight for the total thickness. If the sandwich is too tight from the start or if the rollers do not seem able to accommodate the thickness of the matrix, then the setting is excessive.
Turn the crank in the right direction: Pasta machines, especially the more affordable models, generally do not like to be used in reverse. Always turn the crank in the intended direction.
Finally, if you work cleanly as I show, there’s no reason to dirty your pasta machine and therefore it can always be used to make pasta!
No worries! Wear gloves for inking. For cleaning, a vegetable oil (like linseed oil) will do just fine. If any marks persist, a little white spirit can help. The result of your engraving will be excellent.
Technical questions
On the tetra Pak, corrections are limited but possible for a small mistake: you can try to smooth the area with a flat, hard object (the back of a spoon for example) or cover it with nail polish.
However, it is often simpler to start a new matrix for significant errors.
If you find the felt too thick to pass two pieces through the pasta machine, make your sandwich with a single piece of felt on the wet paper side and a thick paper on the other.
Another question?
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