As I have no way of machining the aluminium plate apart from drilling holes - I have had thought that I would like to float.
If I was to temporarily replace all of the alu plate for MDF which I could route by hand - would I be able to then use the machine itself to machine the aluminium parts or is MDF too unstable and flexible to make this worthwhile? Has anyone done this in the past or did you all have metal working mills and lathes in your garages and sheds?!