Using a plug cutter on phenolics/laminates?

[Park Swan]

I want to create contrasting phenolic "washers" where my bolts will be fixing the handle scales of some knives I'm working on. Has anyone tried using a plug cutter on phenolic materials? I'm concerned that my dinky little HF drill press won't be stable enough to cut through canvas micarta cleanly. There is the option of cutting discs from phenolic dowels, but for aesthetics I would much rather have the 'face grain' of the phenolic plugs matching with the surrounding material. The dreaded option is to make the phenolic circles by cutting them out with a bandsaw and then sanding endlessly until they're a perfect fit (as if I have enough skill).
Any input is appreciated, thanks!

 

[navman]

You could cut them out, chuck them up on a bolt into the drill press and use a lathe bit in a vice as a cutter, or sand paper sticks to round and tune them. Basically, you are turning the drill press into an upright lathe.

 

[Park Swan]

Thanks for the reply. I have a small lathe actually, I'm just looking for a way that won't take me forever - doing six individual circles with calipers for one knife is a lot of extra work if a plug cutting bit will accomplish the same job in a fraction of the time.