Det tror jag är en mycket bra idé.
Både din och H.O's lösning gör dessutom att man kan skippa encodersplittern, vilken det verkar vara problem med.
Bra grundkurs i CNC-konvertering det här.
Så man ser vilka problem man står inför i framtiden.

Torque or Velocity should both work. Velocity is usually the preferred method if the velocity loop in the amplifier is good. Velocity control makes the position loop tuning simpler.
Simple P feedback gain makes a stable system because as we get closer to the position, the error goes to zero, which causes the velocity to go to zero, so we stop at the target position.
Torque (Acceleration) is NOT stable with only P gain feedback.
As we get closer to the position the error goes to zero, which causes the acceleration to go to zero, but this means we keep going faster until we pass the target position!
But this type system can be made stable using some D gain. If you undrstand this Torque mode should work fine.
Yes for any amplifier to operate in Velocity mode it somehow needs to know the velocity either from encoder or a tachometer.
Torque mode does not require any feedback the amplifer just controls the motor current.