It turns out the BootCloner was almost the exact project I was suggesting. A search reveals there is sufficient prior art in the boot loader and boot cloner code to prove an Arduino based programmer is possible. What I don't know is what features the programmer software should have. I would like to develop this project for my own personal satisfaction but would like it to be as useful to as many people as possible.
My development plan is to modify the current boot loader code to talk to a PC and log to a terminal program and then modify the boot cloner code to program all of the memory locations in an AVR. I will then merge the two together and report back with the results.
If anyone would care to suggest this is a waste of my time, please tell me now. I can move on. If anyone would like to help with the project let me know but don't get too excited until I post proof of concept code.
Thanks for your time,
W.M.F.