Oh, what a great thread Kevan!
I've had this same problem/question for FOREVER!!! I don't know if it's because of the radiant heat of the Hot Head but it seems no matter what I try and do "free hand", my beads always want to pull into "donut" shapes when flame polishing and doing the final through-and-through deep heat!
I'm seriously thinking I need me a graphite bead roller; maybe this one, since I LOVE to do just about everything on a 3/16" mandrel (BR-2801):
http://www.cgbeads.com/SET_PICS/n2801_600.jpg
Looking forward to seeing how you do with whatever you ended up with!