Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA
If you use the router (or, as it's pronounced in parts of the States, routah*), you can get pattern bits with the bearing on top that will allow you to put the fence aside once you get to a certain depth. This may speed things up a bit, and will certainly reduce the need to be obsessively aware of keeping the fence against the work to avoid oopsies on the sidewalls.

Not that, as a hand tool guy, I know anything about these. I've just heard...yeah.

*This parenthetical bit refers to the New Yankee Workshop, an American cultural experience that may/may not translate well. Kind of like vegemite, but without the aftertaste.