As a newbie, I use a lot of devardi glass, and even more of their tools, as I simply can't afford many others while I am learning, and they do fine for me.
The glass is very tricky, and for people used to Italian or more expensive glass, it is unworkable. Here is the trick. You must pre warm the rods, if not in a rod warmer, then slowly in the far reaches of the flame. Very slowly!
I think this works for me as a newbie, cause I was afford of heating glass too fast to begin with anyways, so I always introduced it slowly, and with mild fear. Now that I am more accustomed to shocky, and just startled, it doesn't bug me. And like I said. Prewarm it! I have one of their rod warmers sitting on my desk, and I just load it up with what I think I will use that day, turn it on, use other glasses for 20 mins, then away I go.
It does not always mix well with others, but that's the same with many glasses. Lauscha doesn't play well with others, we all learn to just experiment.
Devardi has colors that others don't offer, and they all give a neat organic/recycled look that I simply love.
Yes, it is tricky to work with, stiff and needs to be warmed, but it will always have a place on my bench, and the tools are awesome, in my limited experience, and for the price, simply enable me to do this hobby at all. Without devardi, I would still be using canister gas and second hand graphite hand me downs.
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