Thanks guys.
Agreed BigB. I was really worried about getting it too hot, especially with how hot mapp gas burns. I did it in stages. Burn some, cool down. Burn more, cool down. So far it is holding together great. It is really dry stuff too, which probably helps??? I did notice that the dark areas really sucked up the first coat of finish, where the remainder of the wood did not. So two coats were definitely needed.
JCZ I haven't tried flame polishing with mapp gas. I don't have the jewelers torch setup though, so like you said I couldn't get in the barrel anyway. I'd worry that it gets too hot and would bubble the acrylic easier than cooler gases might. Only one way to find out though!