THis is a new field for me, too, but I'll share what I've learned.  Could
you pass along anything you get off-list too?  I've much left to learn.

FIrst off, the best thing written for museum use on the subject is a
Techinical Leaflet from AASLH (American Association for State and Local
History, they have a website with ordering info, and they are very
inexpensive).  THe Booklet is called "Exhibit Mounts on a Budget" and it
covers basics of cutting and bending plexiglass and the like.

I found some tips on rec.crafts.metalworking, that suggest if you are
 cutting it with a saw, to use a carbide tipped blade, fo most cuts a 10
inch 80-tooth blade with a triple-chip design, and to push on the plexi to
move it through FASTER if it's binding on the blade, so it'll create less
frictional heat, which melts it and makes it stick.  I have only used a
score-cutting method, with a sharp utility knife blade along a straight
edge, and it'sa little slow, but makes a decent, clean cut/break that was
fine for my uses so far.

FOr bending, I found a simple but inexpensive heat strip on the following
website -- www.gravers.com/iedbendr.html.  It takes about 15 minutes to
soften standard sheet plexi from the hardware store to the point you can
bend it into a deep bend, but careful and slow attention to the project
yeilds pretty spiffy results.

I have no experience with fusing, though it is covered in that AASLH
leaflet I mentioned.

Hope this is useful!

Juliette Rogers
Collections Manager/Registrar
Stephen Phillips Trust House
Salem MA

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