I hope these come across well. I have to put some finishing touches on it, but for the most part this is the finished product.
This is my first attempt with a router other than doing edges (which require no setup what-so-ever). It was quite a learning experience to say the least. They are incredibly powerful machines and the precision needed to get things just right is something that I look forward to mastering. The top left part of the "empty" bin was actually not in the original plans...the fence on the left side of the jig I had setup moved 1/6th of an inch and it looked like crap. I attempted to salvage the piece because the sighter holes and tower took too long to start over again. The bottom of the "empty" bin is felt, and the feet on the bottom are adjustable in case of an uneven bench surface or if the shooter would like to raise the platform higher. The tower has a hanger bolt in it and it screws into a t-nut in the base. I wanted to make the tower removeable because I could see it snapping off really easy during travel. It ended up very solid and shouldn't cause too much wear on the base. I may end up putting a very thin layer of felt on the bottom to avoid any marring, but time will tell.
The base is a 1.5x6 piece of red oak that I stained with a light pine color. The tower is a 1" piece of red oak with the same stain.
I don't know if I will offer these as anything but special gifts to friends and maybe as an end of the year award at my matches, but for now I have promised this one to a good friend of mine.
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I put a 6mmbr and a 220 Rusian case at the foot of the empty bin. They will be flush with the top, highly polished, and epoxied in. My intent was to indicate which rounds the holder was designed to hold...the truth is that when I setup my router jig I was getting a little frustrated, rushed the 20 minute setup and came up short! Lesson learned.
Next to the 6mm Rem that I put together for my dad one Christmas. He had the stock rifle under his bed for 30+ years and hadn't shot it. I took it out, cleaned it up and pillared it into this Rich Franklin f-class stock that I finished.
Had a lot of fun with it, and will make one for myself when I have some more time. Thanks for looking
Mike