what's the best way to clean up the rough edges?

[philip_g]

I'm just full of ?'s this weekend.

Before I veneer I'll need to even up some edges, what's the best way? Can you plane MDF by hand? or is it better to sand it down? Maybe fill it with putty and smooth it?

What do you guys do? or are your cuts always exact :P

[Lurkalot]

If you uneven joints with MDF, the best method is to use a bearing-guided flush trim bit in a router to smooth them , then careful sanding with a palm or small random orbit sander. MDF can certainly be sanded by hand (tiresome work), but it is not a material that is very conducive to hand planes; the adhesives in MDF make it fairly abrasive on edge tools anyway.

The ball-beraing guides are not the exact same diameter as the cutting circle, and typically leave a small proud surface on one plane that still needs some sanding.

Best of luck with your project,

Bruce

[philip_g]

thanks, hadn't thought to try that, have a bit floating around here somewhere.