Am I asking for trouble with this? (manual milling?)

[TonyD]

Hello folks.

The Z Axis of my CNC router is made, now looking at the Y Axis. I took some inspiration from a design that Jazz put up a while back and am keen to see if I can get to the point where I have a slot in the front plate of my Y Axis plate as per diagram. I don’t have many tools but I do have an 1100W Black and Decker hand router. The plate will probably be 1100mm by 200mm by 15mm. The slot is around 55mm wide.

*IF* I was to set up the plate in my workmate, secure it and set the router guides up correctly is it feasible that I could use the hand held router to cut this hole into say 15mm Aluminium (Eco cast) plate? I can’t face all the chain drilling (and filing ) that I'd need to do using my drill press and I got a quote from a local engineering company to do this for around 70 pounds which is more than I want to spend. Plus although it feels a bit mad to attempt it by hand, I think it might be fun.

Any thoughts?

Finally, if it is feasible, can anyone recommend the type of cutter I'd need? Thanks for looking. Tony.