here’s a crazy idea. Can you center-light (the inverse of edge light) a slump bowl and will it light the edges?
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That’s sounds like a nifty idea. Some interesting optic questions there. I can try it out.
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Might be fun to try!
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That’ kind of what I was imagining as the “flower light” idea. if the center circle cut out with a puck light (that is coming out of the sides, not the face) so the “petals” would glow. It will be so exciting to see the “gallery” area soon after the Glowforge’s ™ start shipping !! 
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That is beautiful. Do you think it would be pliable enough after heating to make a vase without breaking? Amazing possibilities.
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For the center-lighting thing you would probably need a cutout and then some compatible cement/goop to couple the light in efficiently. Maximum coolness would probably come with adjustable lights like these or perhaps these, although you’d need to do something to either conceal or highlight the electronics. (Or maybe a display base with exposed contacts, although then you couldn’t pick up the lit thing)
It is nicely pliable over 300F but you’ve got to watch your hands 
Also be careful with gloves that might leave an imprint (like rough leather welding gloves) especially at higher temperatures. It’s easier to make freeform designs starting with some base to mold over than it is to get a symmetric bowl lined up and formed just so in fact. Great for vases, pencil holders, etc.
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I think you could make some interesting shapes that get more verticality. Some of that would depend on your cutout design. I found that having a positive and negative mold allowed me to form it evenly. If I just put it inside or outside a bowl, that took a little doing and resulted more in the saddle deformations that were uneven.
Some studies of topology conversions would be fascinating here.
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Wow! Really beautiful design and excellent execution of the slumping!
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Wow! You wouldn’t know that those are acrylic at first glance. Beautiful.
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It should work. Edge lit acrylic is basically a fiber optic effect (nearly total internal reflection) which is why using a dry erase marker on edge-lit pops so nicely (disrupts the reflection, so light comes out at the marker).
The angles used will be important. So you may need a pretty shallow bowl to center light effectively, and a sloping base.
This statement with the assumption that you mean for the bowl to sit on top of a light, and thus it still is edge-lit, just the edge is kind internal to the main shape. You would need some kind of feet or pedestal, which these bowl designs lack.
Those LED stand-offs could be added as feet + glow source though.
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That is gorgeous
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When I read @Jules initial comment, I was thinking like a small hole in the center of the bowl (obviously to only hold dry materials…did you know that dry cooperage was harder than wet cooperage? With wet cooperage, you didn’t need to be as precise because the liquid inside would swell the wood thus sealing the contents inside…at least this is what my PhD advisor told me as his grandpa was one). With a light inside the hole at the bottom of the bowl could work better, though then you’d want to be a little bit more selective with the type of LED one buys and look at the angle at which the light is emitted.
Very creative question for sure!!
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I would not heat acrylic in an oven you intend to use again for food. There are a lot of chemicals that can leach out when you heat it. I’ve been working with acrylics for many years, from cutting to heat forming, and I would not personally use my kitchen oven to do this. Acrylic can go from just barely soft to melting very quickly and can catch fire. I’ve set more than one piece on fire accidentally when forming.
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That’s quite a clever setup with the bowls, and the final result is quite pretty. I look forward to getting my GF so I can try something similar.
I’ve been working with acrylics for many years, and I would like to caution you on using your kitchen oven (or anything else you would use to cook food) to do your heat bending. Acrylic has a very small temperature range between being pliable enough to bend and beginning to decompose. It also releases chemicals as it melts, and should always be heat formed in a well ventilated area. Acrylic can also catch fire just outside it’s bending range and is quite toxic when burned.
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I’d love to try this with a record!
Vinyl, bad idea. We periodically get reminders from each other that burning vinyl is both toxic (bad for you) and corrosive (bad for your Glowforge). Maybe if you laser cut a pattern for cutting with more conventional tools. From there, I would be curious if a heat gun, outside or well ventilated, would be safe.
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Thank you for the heads up! Cutting the pattern would be a good idea. I’ve
used a heat gun on vinyl before (outside). Getting it pliable isn’t easy
because it cools so quickly which is why I thought cutting it would work
ok. I didn’t know it was corrosive though. Thank you!
Elizabeth Davis
Wadsworth Middle School
7th Grade Computer Technology
I didn’t know until I learned it here. I guess it is the case no matter how it is burned, but it is especially bad with a laser cutter because you can destroy yourself (toxic fumes) and your laser. It apparently requires a very specially designed laser to laser cut vinyl. As awesome as Glowforge is, that wasn’t part of their intent from the beginning.
In its common usage Vinyl, as in referring to phonograph records, refers to PVC, Poly(vinyl choride). So if you see something called vinyl it’s PVC.
https://community.glowforge.com/t/stuff-you-shouldnt-laser/6464
But other materials may have vinyl in their name and be fine to use. The vinyl monomer is not the problem, it’s what gets attached to the vinyl monomer that is the problem. Vinyl is pretty simple, just some Carbon and Hydrogen. It’s the R in R−CH=CH2 that’s needs to be worried about.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_group
White glue is PVAc which is Poly(Vinyl Acetate) which is fine to laser.
PVAl, Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) is also fine.
(Note that sometimes just PVA is used to denote the two above, so be aware.)
Henryhbk uses PVAl in some of his projects.
https://community.glowforge.com/t/my-medical-molding-projects/3550
As jrnelson pointed out, it’s when the R is a halogen (e.g. fluorine, chlorine, bromine) that problems occur.
Bottom line:
If the material’s name is vinyl immediately think danger. But if part of its name is vinyl assume the worse, but hit Wikipedia to see if it’s halogenated.
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