Thanks for the clarification!
@Jules Any idea if hump bowls would work just as well?
@jbv My $10 HF heat gun is also holding up well, and yes, itās the only thing Iāve ever bought from them that has a plug.
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I had to go look that up, Iād never heard of a hump bowl. It looks like it might be a solid bowl shape made out of ceramic?
I would think the ceramic could handle the glancing heat from a heat gun, (they do fire it), but Iām not sure, so youād need to be careful when first testing it.
You would cover it with foil first to keep the acrylic from sticking to it accidentally.
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I was referring to the hump technique, which just means draping a planar material over a form, rather than slumping it into a form. (Sorry for assuming youād be familiar with it ā slump and hump are two sides of the same coin in ceramics.)
So in this context, using acrylic lace and Pyrex bowls, I was asking if it would work to drape the acrylic on the outside of the bowl instead of the inside.
The main thing I can imagine going wrong is the inside surface of the lace bowl getting sharp edges from melting onto the protective foil.
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Oh yeah, you do drape it over the outside. You turn the glass bowl (or whatever) upside down, cover the bottom of it with foil, and then heat the plastic so it slumps down.
Iām sorry that wasnāt clear. These things are formed over the bottom side of the bowl. (Thanks for bringing it up.)
Apparently these are hump bowlsā¦learn something new every day.
You do have to be a little bit careful with heating the plastic (and Iām talking about the PLA that I tested, which melts much more rapidly than the acrylic will)ā¦you just warm it up to the point that it starts to droop and then use your hands to quickly shape it round the bowl - only takes a few seconds in a warm oven for that kind of plastic.
It never picked up imprints from the foil because it starts to harden up the instant you remove it from the heat source.
You can always pop it back in for another brief round, but too much heat and you wind up with a puddle. (Did a couple of those too!)
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This is so cool. Definitely going to try this when my 'Forge arrives =)
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When I have played with PLA, Iāve successfully used hot water from one of those dispensers. Might work here. (I had some spiral-thread containers that were just a touch too tight, and running one side under 180F water and then working them a few times was perfect.)
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Never thought of that. Iāll have give it a try next time something is just a hair out of spec.
Thanks! 
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One of those kinds of dryers would probably work as well. 
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Didnāt think of that either - I donāt currently have one.
(Curly hair - air dries with a quick finger ruffling.)
Might need to finally invest in one. (What the heck - I never bought hairspray either, until I got a 3D printer.)
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Wait, what? I realize I could just google this, but for the sake of discussion, how does hairspray go with 3D printing?
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Adhesion of the first layer to the bed. That is the primary source of failure.
Hairspray applied to a bed, and then the bed heated to burn away all but the residue, results in a very nice tacky layer. Works better than gluesticks (about the same level of adhesion, but far less added and varied thickness)
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Yep! What Jacob said. Itās just the glue that holds the print down on the plate. 
As a glue stick guy Iāll have to try it.
I was a big fan of the hair spray method. But then I found these things: https://www.amazon.com/BuildTak-Printing-Build-Surface-Rectangle/dp/B00MN5X084
They are absolutely magical. Iāve only had one print fail to stick, but that was my fault due to the plate not being properly leveled at one edge.
Now I have a bottle of Aquanet in my bathroom thatās never going to be used again.
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Spot on. Iāve been running them for a couple of years (doing eNable prosthethic hands). I went through the kapton tape, glue stick, hair spray (btw, get the unscented version if you use this method - works better than ones with an added scent) and finally the BuildTak.
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You can always use it to get rid of spiders (lots of back widows here)ā¦ 
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Jules, have you thought of, or had a chance to revisit this design now youāre a forger - 1/8" acrylic maybe ?
Could you do it in sections, like overlapping petals, to increase the overall size ?
Regards
John
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Not yet John, but itās on the list for dispo soon.
(Been trying to get some final tutorials finished up - Iāll probably work on those this week, and finish up that knife block.)
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Custom Easter Baskets.
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