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How to fit a router insert plate

Updated: October 2026

The plate is on the bench and the top is still blank, often 18 mm or 19 mm MDF. The leaflet may quote a rebate for a different model. How to fit a router insert plate starts by measuring this plate, then cutting a ledge that matches it. This page from the Products Compared editorial team, updated on 16 October 2026, follows Trend’s published figures and Wealden’s router-table notes. Choice of plate stays on the [router insert plate comparison](/hub/routers/router-insert-plate). A qualifying purchase through our amazon.co.uk links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

The plate is on the bench and the top is still blank, often 18 mm or 19 mm MDF. The leaflet may quote a rebate for a different model.

Our top picks

Trend Trend RTI/PLATE/A

Best overall

Trend Trend RTI/PLATE/A
8.1/10about £65.99
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SavingBird SavingBird 235×120

Best value

SavingBird SavingBird 235×120
7.3/10about £12.85
View offer
CISSIYOG CISSIYOG lift kit

Rank 3

CISSIYOG CISSIYOG lift kit
5.9/10about £42.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Measure the plate before you trust a drawing
  2. 2.Cut the ledge, then the opening
  3. 3.Drill from the router, not from a universal diagram
  4. 4.If the holes miss
  5. 5.Flush, rings, and the things the plate does not include

Measure the plate before you trust a drawing

Trend’s two full-size plates do not share one rebate. The phenolic instruction PDF sets the ledge at 6.35 mm deep by 12.7 mm wide, and the opening at 280 × 203 mm. Trend’s alloy page states an 8 mm deep by 12.7 mm wide rebate into a 19 mm top, and an aperture of 98.5 mm, not that rectangle. A UK review of the Trend plate says the instructions and the specification disagree on 8 mm versus 6.35 mm. If the calipers and the leaflet differ, cut to the plate. Do not copy the 280 × 203 mm opening onto a 235 × 120 mm SavingBird plate.

Cut the ledge, then the opening

The ledge is the shoulder. Cut it first, then take the opening out of the middle, so the plate has something to bear on. A rebate that is slightly deep can be shimmed. A rebate that is too shallow leaves the plate proud. On a 19 mm top, an 8 mm ledge under the 6.35 mm alloy plate leaves the plate low by a bit over 1.5 mm. A 6.35 mm ledge under the 9.5 mm phenolic plate leaves about 3 mm proud, and that is a recut. Wealden cuts the ledge with a bearing-guided trim cutter against an internal fence. Wealden’s top in that series is 31 mm, so do not copy that counterbore onto 19 mm.
Trend Trend RTI/PLATE/A

Testsieger

Trend Trend RTI/PLATE/A
8.1/10about £65.99
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Drill from the router, not from a universal diagram

Unplug the router and remove the cutter before the base meets the plate. Wealden’s later note centres from the router’s own base and countersinks from the top. Sit the plate in the ledge, centre the base on the opening you cut, and mark through the holes in that base. Drill those marks and countersink from the table face so the heads sit below the surface.

If the holes miss

On aluminium, a miss is usually a new hole where the router actually sits, countersunk from the top. Do not elongate the holes until the router can shift into the place the screws need. If the screws do not pull the base up tight, stop. A base that overhangs a 235 × 120 mm plate will not become a full-size mount because you drilled further out. That pattern is the router insert plate for a trim router.

Flush, rings, and the things the plate does not include

Lay a straightedge across the plate and the top and check all four corners. Shim a low corner with tape. Tape will not lift a plate that stands about 3 mm proud. On MDF, grub screws sink into the board unless they bear on a harder pad, such as a washer or a phenolic offcut. Fit the ring with the router still unplugged. On the alloy plate Trend states rings of 31.8 mm and 67.5 mm in the 98.5 mm aperture. A bare plate is not the fence, guard and no-volt release in Trend’s phenolic instructions.

Common questions

Do I rebate to the printed depth or to the plate I measured?
Use the plate you measured. The printed depth is safe only when it names this model and your calipers agree. A UK review already found Trend’s instructions and specification split between 8 mm and 6.35 mm. If they disagree, the thickness in your hand sets the ledge.
Which Trend rebate is which?
The phenolic PDF, for the 9.5 mm plate, states 6.35 mm deep by 12.7 mm wide. The alloy page for RTI/PLATE/A states 8 mm deep by 12.7 mm wide into a 19 mm top. The widths match and the depths do not. The 280 × 203 mm opening belongs with the phenolic instructions, not with the alloy aperture of 98.5 mm.
How do I centre the router on the hole?
Unplug, remove the cutter, and centre from the router’s own base rather than from a universal hole chart. Mark through that base, drill, and countersink from the top. Wealden’s note on a DW625 uses 6 mm screws in that article, so match the screw to your router if the thread differs.
What if the holes miss?
Drill a new hole in aluminium where the base sits, if enough metal remains around it. Do not slot the old hole until the router can shift into place. If the screws still will not clamp the base tight, stop. Elongating the holes will not turn a small plate into a mount for a larger base.
How do I know the plate is flush?
A straightedge across each corner should show the plate and the top in one line. Tape under a slightly low corner is the usual shim. If the plate stands proud, the ledge is too shallow and tape will not hide it. Give grub screws a hard pad so they do not sink into MDF.
What safety accessories does Trend say a user-made table still needs?
Trend’s phenolic instructions list a back fence, a top guard, pressures, a no-volt release, a pushstick and a fine height adjuster. The insert plate does not include that set. Fit them before you treat the table as ready to rout, and keep the router unplugged while you change a ring or refit the base.

Related pages

Router insert plate buying guide

Aluminium or phenolic

Best router insert plate

Router insert plate

Router insert plate for a Makita-class trim router

Sources

Public UK sources used for the dust, machinery and consumer-safety points on this page. Prices, stars and review counts are from the amazon.co.uk listings in this set, snapshot 16 October 2026.

  1. HSE — Wood dust (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  2. HSE WIS22 — CNC and hand-fed routing (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  3. HSE WD5 — Extraction on routers (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  4. General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  5. GOV.UK — General Product Safety Regulations 2005, Great Britain (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  6. Axminster — How to set up your router table (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  7. D&M Tools — Trend RTI/PLATE/A (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  8. UK Workshop — Router table insert plates (retrieved 16 October 2026)