This was my first answer to the Sinclairs cleaning cradle, it came into existence just before my cleaning box, and I wanted something that was easily packed into an accessory box so it would never get left home. It measures 15 ½ inches long, 6 ½ inches tall by 2 inches wide in the closed position, it fits almost anywhere easily and never leave home without one.

 It only has 2 bolts that cannot get lost, they hold it together when packed and also hold it together when set up, as can be seen there are only 5 pieces total.

 In the set-up position with the 2 bolts installed to hold the cradle ends. The bolt do not have to be screwed all the way in, in fact it is best to leave them loose to allow the ends to adjust to any unevenness of the surface it sits on.

 The cradle ends have 4 holes drilled in them, 2 on each side for holding cleaning rods when not in use.

 This particular cradle was made for conventional pistol grip stocks and the forearm end was made for 3 inch wide forearms. I have found that when using it with a sporter style forearm stock I put a small towel in the front to take up the excess width. I have also used this cradle to display a rifle for show or sale.

 Now here we have all the components to make a cradle. The center piece is a 14 x 2 x ¾ oak, the ends are made of Baltic birch plywood, the aluminum brackets are 2 x 2 x ¼ angle cut to 1 ¼ “wide, 2- ¼ x 1 ½ x 20 socket head screws, 2- screw inserts, 2- plastic knobs, 2- ¼ x 20 tee nuts, 4 wood screws and it takes about a foot of vacuum line hose to cover the cradle ends. I use a metal cutting blade on my table saw to cut the aluminum angle but everything else is pretty much just wood working tools. I used upholstery tacks to fasten the vacuum hose at first but now have switched to one small staple on each side for they sit deep enough in the rubber as not to mar the stock, that can be seen in the first photos.

This should be a pretty straight forward and simple project for anyone with a small wood shop to complete. Thanks for looking ….