Would it be possible to manually control the movement of a stepper motor with a simple forward / reverse trigger switch off a pistol drill and what else would be needed to set it up.

What I am thinking is the operator is manually moving a workhead left to right at the end of the run press a button or trigger switch to move the workhead down ie: put a cut on, move right to left all without taking his hands off the workhead, at the end of the job move to park area, press button / trigger switch up till it touches a limit switch and finish ready for loading next work piece.
If operator takes his hands off the workhead whilst moving the machine stops.

Phill