Polymer Clay Crankiness

Since reading the droolworthy latest edition of Polymer Cafe... (I own the Tina Holden pendant on page 25- the one on the left hand side!) .. I have been coveting one of the new ArtWay DREAM Machines-on page 4. The rollers are 10" wide! I checked the Polymer Clay Express website and they are pricey at $160 but to me a wonderful investment- they don't indicate the price for the motor which is a must have for me ... they do indicate that if you give your email they'll let you know when they are available for shipping.

This morning I fired up my trusty old Atlas and when I turned on the motor the whole machine began to rotate all over the table- the rollers didn't turn- the whole machine did! The pasta machine was flopping all over the table like a flounder! After catching it I tinkered with it to no avail. I have remedied the problem by clamping the machine down but it's making odd noises and do I smell smoke?

So.

No pasta machine. No motor. No DREAM machine available for purchase at this time- the only option is to hand crank on a little machine or buy a new motor and pasta machine to use until I can shell out more money for the machine I really want to buy.

(sigh)