This is my first build and being handicapped, I'm trying to do this on an extremely tight budget. Any and all suggestions will be appreciated! Thank you for your time and effort in advance, Willie

It can, I have seen it done, but it is not all that easy.

a drill press can be gotten for under $100 off harbor freight. that might work better

A lot of time and patients with that method.

Just buy a decent drill press, from a retailer w/ a good return policy

Patients, huh?

The problem with that is cheap drill presses tend to have excessive quill run-out, and trace useless/eccentric  circles while trying to drill a precision hole.

I'm sure it can.

It will take forever because it does not have the power
or bit size.

The side-load thing is not an issue.  The pocket and shelf can be made with drills and plunge cutting with reamers.  The only time side-loading happens is when making a couple of passes to remove the last few thousandths of metal to smooth the walls and bottom of the fire control pocket.

You can complete an 80% with a dremel, small hand files, a vise, and a hand drill.  I did my first two that way.  Didn't look great but both functioned just fine.

Don't be a cheapskate.  Buy a router jig, tooling kit and a $100 trim router.  You will get good results that way.  A dremel is going to be extremely tedious and likely to produce poor results.  If you are really penniless, sell the jig and router on EE when you are done and you should recoup a significant portion of your money.

While I understand trying to do this on a budget and the 5D jig being a little much for that it does make a lot of sense to buy the tooling and then resell once you complete a couple-few.  You don't have to get the 5D jig either - even though it is known as the best the original 80% Arms Easy Jig can be had for around $105-120ish at RightToBear pretty frequently and will be leaps and bounds better then a dremel.  Buy you a cheaper router that is on the recommended list I believe there are some around $70ish new so you may likely be able to find one used for $50 or so.  I picked up the most recommended router out there the Dewalt one for around $70ish used on Ebay and that is one of the most expensive ones new.

With a $50-60 router, $120 jig, and $45 dollar tool kit you would be into it just a little over $200 and could resell it for probably not much less when your done with them.  Of course the same thing goes for the 5D jig and a more expensive used Dewalt router - you can recoup most of your funds with one of them as well but you will be into it at least another $100 over the Easy Jig.  But if you can come up with the extra cash it would likely resell easier.  You could order everything you needed and 2-3 lowers when you got paid and resell everything 2-3 weeks later when you were finished.

All of this said, I am sure if you are handy with things you can make a dremel and some files work.  You will need a drill of some sort anyway to drill out the trigger/safety holes so you may as well use it to cut out a good bit of the material in the beginning even if it is a hand drill.  Then take the dremel and eat what's left away from the middle part making sure not to get too close to the walls.  Then for the last part you would want to take a good set of files you can pick up for a few bucks at WalMart and finish the sides out.  The hardest part would be getting the bottom of the receiver deep enough and milled out evenly/correctly.  It will be extremely time consuming and I think you will regret not using something better.

Sell the 80 and go buy a stripped lower.

That will save you the cost of the jig and tools....and all the hassle of milling it out....and making a mistake during the process.

I still don't understand how folks get the idea that finishing an 80 is cheaper or easier than buying a stripped lower.

After I buy an raw 80% lower ($40) have them anodized after milling (base rate is like $75-80 bucks...usually 3-4 lowers at that price) and do laser engraving (about $60-75 each depending on complexity)

So I'm at about $120 each after everything is done. That doesn't include the costs of my mill, jigs, or tooling.

OP...if your just doing this to see if you can do it....that's cool and everyone needs a fun hobby.
But to finish an 80% with a dremel......I'm gonna say don't unless you don't care about tolerances...appearance...etc..

What I will say....just save a few more bucks and get a small drill press and a router.
You'll be able to use them again and again for other builds, and other projects  too.

Good luck either way you decide to go.

_

We don't do 80% lowers because they are cheaper.

As Pursuit stated, a lot of people have a lot of reasons for doing 80% and cost is the least of our worries.

I like doing 80% lowers because I can customize to my liking and don't have to settle on what roll mark someone else likes, in fact, I don't like roll marks. A lot of people do them, because there is no way to track them and yes, people do them for the challenge of building a fully operational guns at home.

But for me, cost don't even enter the mix.

I want to thank all for their input! You all have given me a lot to chew on and that is what I needed!
Willie