cleaning up edges.

[malelanct]

i've cut some large pieces of wide (sides for a cabinet) using a combination of circular saw, and jigsaw (for tight angles)

now i'm cleaning up one side, so that i can use my flushmount bit to even them both out.

i have alot of dips and bumps near the tight angles, from where i switched saws.

what is the best tool for evening this stuff out?

i have a small vibration sander, but it tooks FOREVER to take off any material with this.  and i think i'm not going to get something even as an end result

should i invest in a wood file to take off the bumps?  i usually hand sand everything, but this stuff is too big and i can't remove the material fast enough.

should i invest in a orbital sander? 

any advice would be awesome.

[cboy]

get a peice of wood with a known good straight edge......clamp down so its flush with the edge so only the bumps are sticking out (adjust to your needs)


use router with flush cut bit and straighten out the edge 

[Kemet]

A wood rasp is always fastest but it has to be followed up by a sander.  The benefit is that there is no setup required, but you have to be comfortable with your touch on the wood.  The router is more precise but you have to have the time to align your jig (and have a jig).

[Franco B]

A router is by far the best way. You will most likely never achieve similar results using a rasp/sander unless you are some kind of robot.

As cboy said a straight edge and a router works well. I tend to use a piece of 1" or so right angle section aluminium. I found that the bearing can dig in slightly to MDF and other soft materials and you don't end up with as good of an edge. I sometimes clamp the section but most often than not I screw it to the piece I am routing. I have a series of holes drilled down the length of the section so that I can choose two or more holes to fix the section to the material. I drilled the holes in the section oversize so that you can tweak the final position after drilling the pilot hole and screwing it to the material.

If you want to clean up sections other than straight ones I would suggest making a template and then using that to template route the material.