Last night I was at Woodcraft and could no longer resist the urge to try one of the EWT (easy wood tools) carbide lathe tools. I got the mini sized finishing tool ($91) with the round carbide cutter. Watched a couple online videos to make sure I did it right, and gave it a shot. Freaking incredible! That little cutter is so sharp it cuts beautifully with no effort and no actual "technique"...You just hold it flat. I used it to form a turkey pot and even did some hollowing with it, on a piece of very curly hard maple. It leaves a surface that hardly needs any sanding at all if your tool movement is smooth. I've always hollowed my pots with a parting tool. Not anymore! Looking forward to using it for duck calls, and I'm already working out how I'm going to buy the detailer tool with the diamond-shaped tip and the roughing tool they make with a square cutter.
Not sure how it will do on acrylic, but I assure you I'll be finding that out this weekend.
I've always poo-poo'd carbide lathe tools as unnecessary. They are, but I'll admit that these sure are fun to use.