Like what you’re up too BD.
I’ve used a dremel to route out a channel (roughly I’ll admit) for binding and glued a veneer on top. Took a lot more care shaping and sanding the veneer to hide the work underneath. I guess I want to say is you might want to consider the smaller tools as well. If I had make a template I think it would be a perfectly acceptable way of doing it. You obviously have router experience though and I’m sure you know what you are doing, but I thought I’d just put it out there.