Trend Starter Router Table Review

Description
The Trend Starter Router Table (SRT) is a small bench top router table specifically targeted towards beginner woodworkers who are operating off of a limited budget. The design of the table is simple and straightforward. It includes a steel plate for mounting a router which is plugged into a front mounted switch for convenience. It includes a basic fence and some accessories for it along with a small plastic miter gauge.

Assembly
The SRT comes well packed in a single cardboard box. There isn't too much assembly involved with the SRT. The table has several metal threaded inserts imbedded into the bottom surface and the four metal legs are attached to the bottom of the table using these screws, overall assembly is pretty quick and sturdy. I did have to fiddle with it a bit to get the insert to sit flush with the table surface though. I also needed to true the fence faces so that they were in the same plane. Regarding that, the fences are made of 0.5" thick MDF, they look like plastic though. My unit shipped without the instruction manual but to Trend's credit they have copies available on-line so any issues such as this are easily remedied.

The table itself is one inch thick MDF that has some sort of durable metallic paint coating. At first glance I even thought it was an actual metal lamination. The table also includes a miter gauge track made of plastic. This isn't going to be all that durable nor is the little plastic miter gauge supplied with the SRT. The router insert is attached to the table using four screws. I didn't use the table without the insert screwed in, I suppose you could do so. For convenience, one of the legs has a remote switch that the router is plugged into. An extra outlet is provided on this as well, presumably for a shop-vac.

In Use
Since the SRT isn't a power tool in itself, none of the typical data applies; its job really is to empower another tool - the router. In that regard, the SRT does pretty much exactly what you would expect it to. It holds a router upside down so it can be used for a variety of moulding and jointing operations. The table surface although small (about 24' x 14"); is fine for most operations. I wouldn't expect the surface to hold up under heavy use but it does seem to wear well (in my limited use thus far).

The owners manual shows the SRT attached to a piece of plywood which is actually what is used to clamp the SRT to a bench. While this is not a requirement it is a good way to use the table and this is what I would recommend; this will make it easier to clamp to a bench and make it easier to use as well. The whole assembly is fairly light and portable. If one were to make an attachment point for all its accessories on the plywood bottom, it would be easier to keep track of them if it were moved about.

The insert hole is small, only 7.25" in diameter but this should allow many routers to fit into the table. I used the Trend T3 router exclusively in my testing, I had to remove its handles to get it into the table. The 8.25" diameter insert is thin but strong steel, it won't take any noticeable depth away from your router. The hole pattern in the plate is specific to Trend routers, none of my others lined up but the plate could be drilled if need be. The maximum bit size is 2.25" which is a bit on the small size for a router table. I believe the intent of the table is to serve smaller routers so swinging a large diameter panel raising bit is probably outside the capability of the router installed in the SRT anyway.

	The fence system is very easy to use and simple. The fence is a fairly typical split face affair, these fence could be replaced with shop-made ones should taller or special ones be required. The fence has a fairly small range of motion (as one would expect on a small table) but should prove suitable for most router operations. The outfeed face can be shimmed out in several increments of about 0.8mm each for a total of 2.4mm. This function would be useful for jointing operations or any time where the reference edge if being removed by the cutter.
The fence includes a holder for a decent vertical feather board that can be used in conjunction with the horizontal one that can be attached to the table itself. The feather boards are one of the best aspects of the design in fact. The fence includes a dust collection port for a shop-vac. The dust collection is very good and the clear guard can also be fitted to a shop vac should one wish. A starting pin can also be inserted into the insert for bearing guided work.
Summary If you haven't noticed router tables can be quite expensive; the Trend Starter Router Table is designed specifically as a low cost tool to enable a router to perform several profiling and joint making operations more easily. It isn't the best router table but it isn't priced like one either (note, Trend makes a higher end table called the PRT). As a starter tool this isn't too bad, the Trend SRT compares favorably to similar units available at large home center outlets.