[Adrolak]

Hey there guys, so, I suppose I should give you all some context for my issue. My father, being the wonderful man that he is, thought he'd get into lampwork, and decided that I would enjoy it too. So, we bought a hothead, and he ordered some marvers, mandrels, and glass from a company called Devardi. I've done a little bit of research, and found that there are some pretty bad reviews for Devardi Art Glass. I was wondering how you guys feel about the company, and their products? Is their glass sub-standard? Am I ultimately ruining my future work by learning with bad glass? Now that I've been experimenting for a while, I've run into a few problems.

My father bought some bead release from Devardi, as well, and I usually let it air dry on the mandrel, rather than fire drying it. I let the bead release get to about orange got, as well as the stainless steel mandrel, before putting my glass onto it, and beginning my work. I've found it immensely difficult to actually separate my bead from my mandrel after working, and it cooling off. I've tried soaking it in water first, I've also tried coca cola, because I read somewhere that that will help, too, and even vinegar. They help, but not much. Is it a possibility that I'm just using crappy bead release? Or is there something wrong with my process?

My last query is about annealing. We don't have a kiln, we don't have the space, nor feel that our output warrants purchasing one. For now, I've been using a ceramic wool blanket, that my father got from work. (He works in power plants for an energy corporation). I realize that it's not the best way to cool down my beads, but is there anything else I could be doing to help? Should I just wait to buy a kiln, or what? Thanks in advance, guys!