A simple inexpensive Christmas present. In reloading shell casings especially rifle, after sizing and priming the powder is thrown and the shell casings are placed in a bullet board to check for powder height. This check is done with a flashlight. I am using 1 X 12 oak scrap by X 10 1/2 inches to 12 inches long will make two very fine bullet boards also 1 X 6 X 12 will work as well. Pine is OK but oak, ash, walnut or other hard woods are always preferable. This was from the lumber yard scrap and though I would have bought it (at a reduced price) the man kept looking at it and calling it scrap and finally said "take it no one else would want it".
Layout is everything on any project and you can make a thing of beauty or a piece of trash of no use to anyone. One more time a bullet board is used for reloading and checking the powder with a flashlight to make sure that you did not through a double charge or miss a charge.(which would be bad). The bullet board is a piece of lumber that has some holes drilled all the way through it and a piece of Masonite or 1/4 inch particle board or paneling placed behind it. Normal bullet boards are most often made with 1/2 inch holes. This is the optimum size for most shell cases and should be the first chosen. For my purpose I chose 5/8 inch as I wanted the boards to accommodate 7.62 X 54 shell casings. The bit chosen has three points (do not use a single point bit it will splinter the entrance hole) and the two side points make the cut for a clean hole. Given the bit was new and the number of holes needed was 100 the bit would have to cut through 75 inches of wood to finish the job. Oak is a hard wood, it is highly likely that the bit cutting edges would be slightly duller before drilling the last hole and a possibility of splintering the entrance hole. To solve this problem the holes were started so the outer sharp cutting edges could be used to greatest advantage and then I went back to finish drilling the holes.
Note the good layout of lines
The holes are clean and sharp on the edges with no splinters or chips and well spaced. On the way home from the lumber yard I stopped by a cabinet shop and asked for a piece of cabinet backing scrap that was about 1 ft by 1 ft such small pieces are usually thrown away anyway so he gave it to me. I have some stains and glue and finish from other projects so this whole project was basically free. If you use a hard wood currently 1 X 12 X 12 oak is about $10 a foot and 1 X 6 X 12 times two boards might be a little cheaper but at a minimum the boards above would be $5 each.
Blade cut is important to any project and the difference between a thing of beauty and a splintered edge. A Circular saw should cut so the cutting points attack the finish side and the splintered side will be the hidden side. Jig saw blades can be bought so the saw teeth cut up or down flip the board accordingly so as not to splinter the finish side. The point of the cutting teeth always attack the finish side. A dull blade may splinter your work no mater what you do. A sharp blade usually leaves a good finish on both sides Note the line in the middle of the above boards is where the boards will be separated. There are fifty holes in each board. To see the next post in creating this project click here
If they pass laws against guns then you will either make your supplies at home, salvage or do without. Below
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