I've been making homemade pasta for many years, so I finally broke down and bought this extruder. I love it! It is incredibly easy to use, and best of all, it takes a fraction of the time to make a batch of pasta, versus the process (rolling sheets and THEN cutting) I go through to make fettuccine and spaghetti with my other pasta maker attachments. I hesitated to buy this after reading all the reviews about the broken rings, and I have two thoughts about that: 1) many reviews refer to the ring as a "cheap piece of plastic" - in fact, I think the unit is well made and very sturdy, 2) it is no surprise to me that you end up with a broken ring if you follow the dough recipe in the book that comes with this attachment. The recipe ends up with dough that is WAY too stiff and I'm sure that is what put the strain on the machine for all the people who experienced a broken ring. On top of that, I don't even like the pasta as made with that dough - I tried it the first time I used the machine (although I had to add some water to make the dough even remotely pliable) and I thought my rigatoni ended up tasting like a rock - way too much egg and no water...terrible). Although many have said that the dough needs to be very stiff to use this attachment, I have found that is simply not true. Starting with the second time I used the machine, I used my regular dough recipe (below) which yields a much softer dough, and it did not clog or slow up the machine at all. However, it is definitely very important to feed only a small amount of dough into the machine at a time. If you do that, the machine will not clog, and I have no evidence that there was ever even a strain on ny unit, much less breakage of the ring.All of the plates work great - be warned that the rigatoni does come out thicker than you would expect versus store-bought pasta, but it is still delicious - just try it with a heavier sauce (such as you might use on gnocci or cavatelli). I love making spaghetti with this extruder rather than my regular pasta maker, as it allows you to skip the entire step of rolling the dough into sheets before cutting. I can literally make a batch of fresh pasta from start to finish in less than 1/2 hour now. Its fantastic!Dough recipe:2 1/2 C all-purpose flour1 egg1 T olive oil1 t salt1/2 - 3/4 cup warm water, added slowlyNote that the right amount of water depends on many factors including the humidity present. I find it is somewhat different every time, so I go by the feel of the dough - it cannot be sticky, but it should be soft. If you have to struggle to knead it by hand, you need more water.I mix the dough by hand into a soft ball and once it feels like the right consistency, I knead it with the dough hook in my Kitchen Aid mixer for 8 minutes (speed 2). After it is kneaded, you can wrap the dough ball in plastic and let it rise for an hour or so, but honestly, I've not found much difference if I'm in a rush and use it right away.Overall, I would highly recommend this attachment - it is simple to use, and makes fresh pasta making QUICK!